These Mortals
by Aebbe
Summary: After a series of nasty events last year, house rivalry at Hogwarts is at a new high. As Head Boy, it's Al Potter's job to keep the peace, but he's got enough on his plate as it is, what with his unruly cousin Lucy's new drama club, trying to stop James interfering with their sister's love life, and dealing with his own very irritating lingering feelings for his ex-girlfriend.
1. House Unity

**A/N: This story is a sequel to my other fic, _House of Cards_. You can read it as a stand-alone if you want (you'll still understand the plot), but certain references and situations will definitely make more sense if you've read _House of Cards_. This is a bit lighter, and focusses more on the friendships, fights and romances that form subplots in some of the other stories.**

**It also forms part of the wider timeline, which all my stories are on. Some of my fics form part of the Dark League Arc, a longer series, though they can all be read alone as well. This one isn't strictly part of that arc, as it doesn't add much (if anything) to the Dark League plot, but it is about the same characters, and fills a gap between Dark League stories, so it'll help you to understand the characters and their relationships, if you're reading any of the others. (I take no responsibility if you decide to read this one and _then_ go back and read _House of Cards_ though - you will have read major spoilers in this!)**

**If you have read _House of Cards_ and are coming to this as a sequel, PLEASE TAKE NOTE: I started _HoC_ a long time ago, and some of my ideas about characters and plots has changed since then. _HoC_ has had a revamp to bring it up-to-date, so if you've only just read it, you can ignore this because you read the updated version. If you read it a while ago, though, you may notice a few inconsistencies between what you read and this sequel. Don't worry - it's not major stuff, and the plot is unaffected, so no need to reread _HoC_ (unless you want to). But you may notice things like a character's house changing, or a minor character's name. This is just me letting you know that it's deliberate.**

**With that out of the way, read on!**

* * *

The scene in the Great Hall on the evening of the first of September did not really change much year to year, Albus thought, observing the four long tables piled with food, the mass of laughing, chattering students, the little bunches of newly sorted first-years, and the general hubbub. And yet this year _was_ different. He remembered back to his own first evening, and smiled slightly as he thought of his terrified eleven-year-old self. James hadn't helped his nerves. In fact, thinking about it, James had been the _cause_ of most of his nerves. Even at twelve, his brother had been confident, loud and popular. There had been no way Albus was going to be able to compete with him.

He'd got past that, of course. He'd felt no need to compete with Jamie for years (it helped that all his school marks had been significantly better than his brother's). But still. Being at Hogwarts without him was a weird feeling. That first year, he and Rose had been among the little ones of the family. Victoire had still been at school, Fred and Dominique behind her, and James and Louis behind them. One by one they'd left, and now it was Albus who was the seventh-year – and not only a seventh-year, but Head Boy. It was his last September. And so, although it hadn't changed, it was different.

"Al?"

He looked across the table to his cousin Molly, who was sitting opposite him and looking at him expectantly, her own prefect's badge gleaming on her chest.

"Sorry. I was miles away. What did you say?"

"I said, when's the first prefect meeting?"

A meeting. Yes, that was his responsibility now, and he felt his heart sink a bit. He'd quite enjoyed being a prefect, but Head Boy was different. He wasn't James; he wasn't a leader. Not that anyone in their right mind would have made James Head Boy _or_ prefect. However, he smiled at Molly.

"Tomorrow morning, as far as I know." He glanced across at the Hufflepuff table, looking for Farah Jilani, the new Head Girl, but he didn't see her. Instead, his eyes fell closer, on the other end of his own table, where Sapphie Jordan was talking to Rose. He hastily looked away. He and Sapphie were finished. Over. Had been for months, and he was fine with it now; they were even back on friendly terms. He didn't have time to think about Sapphie this year, what with NEWTs as well as being Head Boy.

"It's all right, Al." Molly leaned forward towards him, and her voice was kind and reassuring. "You don't need to worry – you'll do a really good job."

Albus frowned. Molly was too damn perceptive, even if she hadn't quite cottoned on to exactly what he'd been thinking. She was also a year younger than him, though, so he didn't need her mothering him.

"I'm not worried," he lied. "Just looking for Farah. We're supposed to be running the thing together."

Half an hour later, the plates were mostly empty, and the hall was filled with crowds of students all moving towards their common rooms. Albus stood up with the rest, and headed for the door.

"Aren't you supposed to look after the first-years?" his friend, Gareth Llewellyn, asked with amusement.

Albus looked back. Molly already had the gaggle of new Gryffindor first-years following along behind her, and a couple of other prefects were hovering round. He grinned.

"Nah, Moll's got it under control. Come on. I'll have enough to do after we have the meeting tomorrow – I want to relax tonight."

They headed out of the hall and along a corridor.

"So, what did you think of Clearwater's announcement?" Gareth asked.

"What, about having a Yule Ball?" Albus shrugged. "Sounds like a lot of work. And I bet Farah and I have to help. I could do without it, to be honest."

"Well, you don't have to go," Gareth suggested. "I mean, I'm sure it's not compulsory. You could just hang out in the common room with the third-years and below."

"Don't tempt me. I've been dragged along to formal parties at the Ministry before. I really don't want to have to go to another one."

Gareth laughed. "I doubt it'll be much like the Ministry parties, though. You never know, it might even be fun."

They got no further in their conversation. From up ahead in the corridor came a distant crash, a scream, and then the sound of voices shouting. People around them either stopped or rushed on towards the noise, a buzz of alarmed chatter breaking out. Albus and Gareth glanced at each other, then hurried towards whatever was going on.

The scene they found around the corner was one of chaos. Several third-year Gryffindors seemed to have clashed with some Slytherins of the same year, wands had been drawn, and several hexes cast. Luckily, being thirteen-year-olds at the beginning of their third year, there was a limit to the damage they were capable of doing, but they'd caused uproar, and there was a great deal of noise. Several first-years were screaming, apparently thinking they were under attack.

Albus took all this in within the first couple of seconds, and also realised that he needed to do something.

"HEY!" he shouted at the top of his voice, over the noise. "EVERYONE STOP, RIGHT NOW!"

To his surprise, it worked. It took only a few seconds for the culprits, along with everyone else, to realise that they were in the presence of the Head Boy, and things faded to a sheepish silence. Albus, looking around, quickly identified those responsible. In the middle of it were Padraig Finnegan and Artemis Magorian, both of whom he knew quite well because, quite apart from Padraig's parents being friends of his own father, they were both part of his cousin Lucy's crowd. Along with them were a couple of other Gryffindors he knew vaguely, and several Slytherins he recognised but couldn't put names to. Weylin Nott, one Slytherin he did know by name, was also standing there, though his wand wasn't drawn and he had his hands in his pockets as he stared at the ground. Nott had never been much of a troublemaker before, as far as Albus was aware, but his family had. In fact, his parents were currently in Azkaban after some very unpleasant incidents the previous year.

"What exactly d'you all think you're doing?" he asked, glaring round at them all.

Several people began to talk at once, a confusing jumble of accounts, and it was clear he wasn't going to get a straight story. More people were pouring round the corner to see what was going on, and one of them elbowed her way to the front.

"What's happening?" Farah Jilani, the Head Girl, asked Albus, gazing at the scene with consternation.

"Good question," Albus said. "Casting jinxes in the corridors, is what it sounds like."

The Head Boy and Girl exchanged looks, and Albus saw his own dismay reflected in Farah's face. They'd both hoped that this year would be quieter than last, but this wasn't a good start.

"Is anyone hurt?" Farah asked.

"Tansy got hexed," Padraig said in the momentary pause. Tansy Kent, a Gryffindor, had taken something to the face that had a spread of what looked like purple fungus across her cheek, and was blinking back tears.

Albus bent to look at it. It didn't seem like the kind of thing that would be hard to reverse, so he tried out an anti-jinx spell, and the purple began to fade. Healing spells were one thing he was good at.

"Well, I'm not going to ask who fired that one," he said, "since you all seem to have joined in anyway. But you can count yourselves lucky it's the first night, or you'd all be losing points."

"And we're not going to be lenient on this sort of thing this term," Farah put in sternly. "Anyone who's caught firing hexes or jinxes, or anything else, at another student can expect a detention at the very least."

Albus nodded. "Now get yourselves into your common rooms before we have the staff coming to find out what's going on."

The seventh-years stood and watched as the younger students slunk off in different directions, then the three of them, Albus, Farah and Gareth, looked at each other.

"Well, this isn't exactly the best start to the year," Farah said with a sigh. "I was hoping we weren't going to get any more of that kind of stuff. When are you lot and the Slytherins going to stop laying into each other?"

"Don't ask us." Albus shrugged. "It's not like we ever got involved. But I'm pretty sure everything that happened last year is only going to make it worse. A lot of the Slytherins – and people from other houses too – had relatives in the League, and now everyone knows the League was just a front for more Pureblood supremacists and Dark Arts stuff. It's just gone and stirred up bad feeling again. I've no idea who started that little fight – it could have been any of them, little idiots – but Tansy Kent's a Muggleborn, and well… you know where Weylin Nott's parents are, and why."

"Well, we need to stop it." Farah looked determined. "Nip it in the bud. I mean, of course, the League's awful, but it's just stupid, turning it into a house thing! It's just another form of bigotry." She gave him a questioning look. "You do agree with me, don't you?"

"Of course I do." Albus smiled at her. "We can definitely do our best. I just hope it's enough."

* * *

Lucy Weasley had come to school for her third year with several clear ideas in her head. None of them involved dealing with her friends brawling in the corridors, and she gave Padraig and Artemis an exasperated look as they told their story at breakfast next morning. Strictly speaking, she was not supposed to be at the Gryffindor table, since she was a Hufflepuff, but she had never let that stop her.

"You're idiots. What was the point?"

"Hey, we didn't start it!" Padraig began indignantly, but Lucy hadn't actually stopped for an answer.

"Okay, well anyway, that's not important. You have to tell me what you think of my idea. Tilly and Max like it, don't you?" She looked at the other two sitting with them: Max Bailley, her fellow Hufflepuff, and Matilda Thomas, the sole Ravenclaw representative of their little group.

"What idea?" Artemis said blankly, then her eyes fell on something sitting on Lucy's lap under the table. "Luce… is that a _duck_?"

"Yep." Lucy smiled proudly down at the basket. "This is Basil. Look, isn't he gorgeous?" She lifted up a half-grown duckling briefly. It looked around, and quacked faintly, before she hastily put it under the table again.

Her friends exchanged glances.

"Are you allowed to bring a duck to school?" Padraig asked with a grin.

"Are you allowed to cast jinxes in the corridor?" Lucy countered briskly. "But actually, there's no rule that says I can't. I checked last term."

"Bet Clearwater makes one when she sees him," Max commented.

"I don't see why. He's less trouble than a cat, and makes no more mess than an owl. _Anyway_, Padraig and Artemis haven't heard my idea yet. So here it is. I think we should start a drama club."

The two who had already heard it looked expectantly at Padraig and Artemis for their reactions. The two Gryffindors looked at each other, then back at Lucy.

"What d'you mean… a drama club?" Artemis asked at last. "You mean, like… _acting_?"

"Yes, exactly!" said Lucy enthusiastically. "Inter-house, of course, so you'll have to get over all your stupid fighting. And only for third-years and below, because if we let older people in, they'll try and take over. What d'you think?"

"I don't want to act, though," Padraig said doubtfully. He looked at Tilly and Max. "Are you two in on this as well?"

"I think it's a good idea," Tilly said with a shrug. "I mean, I'm not that keen on acting either, but there's loads of other things we can do, right, Lucy? We can do stuff backstage."

"I just said I'd help if they let you do it," Max put in. "But I bet they won't."

"They will." Lucy looked determined. "It's a brilliant idea. And they have the stupid gobstones club. Why shouldn't they let us do this? So, are you two in?" She looked at Artemis and Padraig.

"Yeah, okay." Artemis looked more enthusiastic once she'd thought about it. "I think it could be fun!"

Padraig groaned. "I don't. But fine. So long as you don't make me act."

"Great!" Lucy beamed. "I'll go and ask Professor Clearwater straight after breakfast!"

* * *

"Absolutely not," Professor Clearwater, the Deputy Headmistress, said briskly, barely glancing at the girl on the other side of her desk. "Quite out of the question. Didn't you hear the announcement I made at the feast?"

"Which one, Professor?" Lucy asked politely. "The one about the first Hogsmeade trip being on the first Saturday in October, or the one about each house being allocated their own day for Quidditch practice, or the one about the new library system, or the one about the Yule Ball being this year? I heard them all, Professor, but I don't see…"

Professor Clearwater looked up from the parchment she was writing on.

"This isn't a discussion, Miss Weasley. I'd have thought it was quite obvious. What with organising the Yule Ball, we are going to be very busy this term, and no member of staff can be expected to give up their own time to start some silly club. That's the end of the matter."

"But we don't need a member of staff, Professor. We'd run it ourselves, and we'd do it all in our own time. It would just be for third-years and below. And I'd organise everything. I mean, there's nothing to absolutely stop us, is there? There's no rule to say we can't."

"_I_ am saying you can't, Miss Weasley," the professor snapped. "It's nonsense, and I won't have it affecting your school work. Please stop arguing with me."

There was a tap at the door.

"Come in!" Professor Clearwater called, and the door opened to reveal the Head Girl.

"Oh, sorry, Professor," Farah said, when she saw Lucy. "I didn't mean to interrupt. I just brought the copies of the new prefect duty rota."

"You didn't interrupt," Professor Clearwater said. "Miss Weasley was just…"

"I was just talking about the inter-house drama club I'm starting!" Lucy jumped in. "I thought it could be something to help all the houses get along, you know?"

Farah looked at her with interest. "Really? That's a good idea! You'll have to tell me more about it. Here's the rota, Professor." She held out a piece of parchment to Professor Clearwater, who took it.

"Thank you, Farah. And don't get too excited. I've just told Miss Weasley that it's utterly impossible."

"Oh, really, Professor?" Farah looked deeply disappointed. "Well, I suppose it would be quite a lot of work. But… well, Albus and I were actually trying to think of ways to encourage a bit more… friendliness between the houses. After everything that happened, you know? And, I mean, some sort of club _could_ work."

Professor Clearwater laid the prefect duty rota on the desk in front of her and sighed deeply.

"I am not going to ask a member of staff to help you with this, nor am I going to make any special concessions for it," she said.

Lucy, seeing her weaken, lit up. "You don't need to, Professor, honestly! We'll do it all ourselves!"

"And I'll help them, if they need it," Farah offered.

Professor Clearwater looked sternly at both girls.

"I'm letting you do this because I believe that you're right, Farah – a bit of inter-house co-operation is sorely needed. So I'm not going to stand in your way, as long as it's not impacting anyone's academic performance, and as long as it really does contribute to some sort of school unity. That means that all four houses _must_ be equally involved. As soon as I see that not happening, or the schoolwork of anyone involved suffering, I shall stop it at once. Understood?"

As soon as they were outside, Lucy turned to the Head Girl, beaming.

"Thanks, Farah!"

"No problem." Farah looked at her with slight bemusement. "It's a good idea, if you can pull it off. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Well…" Lucy looked doubtful. "I don't mean to be rude, but we actually really wanted to do it just ourselves. The third-years. We were going to see if anyone first and second-years wanted to join, but it would be just us running it."

"Fair enough." Farah smiled at her. "Well, let me know if you need anything. And I'll come and see your show."


	2. Recruiting

Meredith Hewitt yawned widely as she climbed through the portrait hole into the dimly lit Gryffindor Common Room. It had been the first day of lessons, and it was late and she was looking forward to her bed. Her prefect patrol had been uneventful; the school was dark and quiet. Pulling her cardigan around herself, she headed for the stairs up to the girls' dormitories.

"Meri!" A voice hissed her name, and she stopped abruptly, gazing round for the source of it.

"Lil?"

"I'm here!" Lily Potter, Meri's best friend, waved at her from the sofa by the low fire.

"Lily, what the hell are you doing?" Meri changed her tracks and crossed the common room to the fire. "It's really late!"

"I know. I was waiting for you. Come and sit down; I need to talk to you."

Lily's voice had taken on a coaxing note, and Meri sighed. However, now that she was closer, she saw that her friend looked thoroughly miserable, which was enough unlike Lily to be concerning. She generally saved being upset for the things that were worth it.

"What's the matter?" Meri asked, sitting down on the other half of the sofa.

Lily pulled her feet up and hugged her knees. She was dressed for bed, in pyjamas, socks and a blanket.

"I broke up with Zeke," she said softly.

"Oh," Meri replied. "Again?"

This was unlike Lily - not the breaking up part, which was fairly unsurprising, but the fact that Lily seemed bothered by it. Meri tried to work out what it meant. Until the previous year, Lily had been completely uninterested in boys as anything other than ordinary friends. It had been obvious, to everyone except Lily, that there were quite a number of boys who would have liked to be more than friends, but she had been cheerfully oblivious to this fact.

That had begun to change about a year ago, and Lily had been out with more than one boy in the intervening months. But even now, she treated dating and relationships with a casual lightness that sometimes amused and sometimes irritated Meri, and she consistently refused to take any of it seriously. She had been out with and broken up with Zeke three times now, and in between, over the summer, had gone on several dates with Sebastian Graves. None of this - either the dates or the ending of the dates - had seemed to faze Lily in the slightest, and yet now here she was sitting up in the dark, empty common room to talk about it.

"I think it's forever this time," Lily said after a pause.

Meri tried very, very hard not to feel pleased at this idea, and mostly succeeded. It wasn't as if being dumped by Lily was going to make Zeke notice Meri. The only differences it made were that she wouldn't have to see them holding hands or kissing, and that she might now be able to go to Hogsmeade with her best friend again.

"What happened?" she asked instead, for _something_ must have happened to make this time different from the other times.

Lily shrugged. "He's… I don't know. He's _clingy_. He always has been, but it was getting worse."

"You mean he's more into you than you've ever been into him," Meri commented wryly.

"I can't help that, though." Lily fiddled with the edge of her blanket. "He knew I didn't want anything serious; I told him that from the start. Plus we've only ever gone out for a few weeks at a time. I don't know what he expected."

Meri sighed. She loved her best friend, but sometimes Lily was clueless to the point of selfish. Although, in this case, it sounded less like Lily was clueless and more like she was trying to convince herself – and Meri – of something. There had been a time when Meri would have let her get away with that; would have said something soothing about how it wasn't Lily's fault. But not anymore.

"Lil, you know how much he likes you," Meri said bluntly. "I know you've tried to make it into something casual, but you must have known for ages that that's not what he wants. It's obvious."

There was another long pause, while Lily bit her lip and hunched further over her knees.

"I know," Lily whispered at last. "That's why… that's why I told him not to ask me out any more. I wasn't… It wasn't really fair, was it?"

It was the first time Meri had heard anything like this from Lily's lips, and she was startled into silence.

"Mer, am I a horrible person?" Lily said, her voice low and anxious. "I mean, I hurt him, and I didn't mean to, not really. But I knew I was doing it, at least I would have known if I'd let myself. I just wanted to have fun, so I carried on. I'm selfish, aren't I?"

"No," Meri said instantly. "You're not horrible – you're one of the kindest people I know. But Lil…" She took a deep breath. "Sometimes, you know, you just don't think about things enough."

"I know," said Lily sadly. "I try to, but usually it's too late by the time I think of thinking." She gave Meri a very small smile. "Thanks, Mer. I didn't really expect… I mean, I feel bad about breaking up with him, but I'm actually going to really miss him too. He's good fun. But I did the right thing, didn't I?"

Meri wanted to say yes immediately, but that was the selfish part of her that wanted Lily and Zeke not to work out. Instead she shrugged.

"Depends. Probably. Unless you secretly do like him, and you're just denying it to yourself."

Lily laughed slightly. "I do like him. But not enough – not in that way. And he's a seventh-year and I'm only a fifth – so he's too old for me really, isn't he? Anyway," she went on before Meri could reply, "I've done it now. And I'm going to stay single this year. I'm fed up with boyfriends."

She swung her legs round and scooted up next to Meri so they could lean together. Meri laughed.

"Yeah, how long's that going to last? We've got the Yule Ball this term – and I'll eat my best quill if you end up going without a date."

Lily elbowed her gently, then also laughed.

"Depends who asks. But one date doesn't make someone my boyfriend anyway. Who are _you_ planning on going with?"

Meri rolled her eyes. "I'm not _planning_ on going with anyone. I doubt if there's anyone who'd want to go with me. Which I'm fine with." A lie, but hopefully Lily would buy it.

"Well then, we can go together," Lily said sleepily. "Never mind stupid dates. We'll have a girls' night, and get Claire and Freya in on it too." She leaned her head on Meri's shoulder. "Tell you something, though. I'm really glad James isn't at school to stick his nose in anymore. You know, last year he actually had a go at Zeke because we were going out? At least he can't interfere with my life from London."

Lily sounded half asleep, so Meri slipped out from under her head, and stood up, tugging her friend with her.

"Come on. I'm going to bed. We've got Potions first thing in the morning."

* * *

Lucy stuck the final poster to the wall of the library, and stood back to admire it. The artwork had been done by Tilly, and it looked good. Lucy had secured permission to use the History of Magic classroom after lessons finished on Thursday; nobody was ever in there, and Professor Binns liked Lucy. She was one of the few students whose names he remembered, because she was also one of the few students who managed to retain an enthusiasm for History of Magic despite the way in which it was taught. Professor Clearwater was unlikely to find out that they were using the classroom, and even if she did, Lucy (somewhat optimistically) couldn't think of any objection she could make.

"What on earth are you doing?" a voice asked behind her, and she turned to find her sister, Molly, standing there, one hand on her hip.

"Putting up a poster," Lucy replied, as if that wasn't obvious.

"Did you get permission?" Molly asked.

"Yes," Lucy said smugly. "Madam Pince said I could, so long as I didn't use a Permanent Sticking Charm, and took them down myself afterwards." In fact, she had simply refused to give up or go away until Madam Pince gave in and agreed, which Lucy had found a useful strategy on many occasions.

Molly looked again at the poster, read it carefully, then looked at her sister.

"A _drama club_?"

"Yes," Lucy said again, folding her arms over her chest. "And before you ask, _yes_, I've got permission."

Molly shook her head. "Lucy, you're mad. You'll never get anyone to join. Oh, and by the way, is it true you brought that stupid duck to school?"

Lucy shrugged. "So what if it is? There's no rule against it."

"Well, Mum and Dad are going to kill you, even if the teachers don't." Molly sighed. "Why can't you just be normal for once, Luce?"

For all her optimism to Molly, Lucy was not intending to leave attendance of her club to chance. Her own close friends would be there, of course, but she needed more than that, and had spent some considerably effort recruiting people from her own house. The response from the second and third-years had been a little disappointing, but a few first-years had promised to come along. That might have been because they'd been intimidated by Lucy's overwhelming enthusiasm, but as long as they came it didn't really matter why.

After some more thought, she and Tilly, her main co-conspirator, skipped the last part of Charms (Lucy pretended to be ill, and Tilly volunteered to take her to the Hospital Wing) to lie in wait for the Gryffindor second-years coming out of Defence Against the Dark Arts. They could have left this to Padraig and Artemis, but Lucy didn't trust them to recruit with enough passion, and she had friends among the second-year Gryffindors.

As the crowd of twelve-year-olds spilled out into the corridor, Lucy bounced out in front of a plump, blonde girl wearing glasses, who stopped short with a startled expression.

"Oh! Lucy…"

"Alice! Come on, we want to talk to you about something."

Lucy seized Alice Longbottom by the arm and towed her down a side corridor. As she had expected, Alice's two companions followed them.

"What are you doing?" a small, dark-haired girl protested. "We've got Transfiguration in a minute!"

Lucy gave her a stern look. "This is much more important than Transfiguration, Issie. We need you to join our new club. All of you."

The three second-years looked at each other.

"What sort of club?" the third member of the trio, a boy by the name of Jake Nelson, asked.

"A drama club," Tilly put in. "Just for third-years and below."

"You've got to come," Lucy went on. "It won't work if nobody does, and you're our friends so you're some of the first people we're asking. You can even help run it if you come to the first meeting on Thursday."

"Cool!" Jake said. "We'll come, won't we?" He looked round at his friends, who looked slightly less enthusiastic.

"Since when is there a drama club?" Issie Malfoy asked.

"Since now," Lucy replied firmly. "Oh, come on, you two. It'll be fun!"

"What are you going to do there?" said Alice.

"We're going to put on a play. Maybe before Christmas, if we're ready."

"So there'll be lots to do," Tilly interjected again. "Even if you don't want to act. Lucy's going to be director and I'm going to be producer, so I'll need people to help with costumes and sets and all the rest of it."

"So will you come?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, okay. We will, right?" Jake looked round at the two girls again.

Alice and Issie looked at each other, and Issie shrugged.

"Okay. But I don't want to be _in_ the play."

"Me neither," Alice agreed.

"That's fine." Lucy beamed at them, and thrust a small version of the poster into Jake's hand. "Thursday, after lessons finish, in the History of Magic room. See you there!"

After the three younger students had gone, Tilly turned to Lucy.

"We're going to need more people if we want to put a play on. So far, you, Artemis, and maybe Jake are the only ones who actually want to be in it. Apart from those first-years."

Lucy smiled. "We will. We'll get enough."

On Thursday, it seemed that her optimism had paid off. It was not a huge group, but for a first meeting, Lucy thought as she looked around, it wasn't too bad. All her own friends were there, of course – including Padraig, who had remained reluctant, but had been dragged along by Artemis. The little gaggle of first-year Hufflepuffs had all come, and even a couple of second-years. Tilly had convinced a few of her fellow third-year Ravenclaws, and Issie, Alice and Jake were there, as Lucy had expected. Those three might be a year younger, but they had counted as an extension of Lucy's close crowd ever since a certain rule-breaking incident the previous year, and Lucy had been instrumental in managing to get an out-of-season Christmas Tree delivered to the Hospital Wing after Issie had been knocked off her broom during a Quidditch match.

"Okay!" Lucy jumped up onto a chair and called over the general chatter, which began to die down at her voice. "Right, everyone! Let's start! Thanks for coming. And welcome to the very first meeting of Hogwarts Inter-House Drama Club!" she announced, flinging her arms out to the sides and almost overbalancing. "Most of you know me, I think – I'm Lucy Weasley, and I'm the club chairperson, and also the director. This is Tilly, and she's the vice-chairperson and the producer. And these are Max, Artemis and Padraig, who are the rest of the committee – we need to fix on proper job titles for you lot, by the way," she added, ignoring the fact that Padraig, who had had to be forcibly co-opted onto the committee, was rolling his eyes.

"What _is_ a committee?" A Hufflepuff first-year whispered to the person beside them, but Lucy heard.

"A committee just means we're the people in charge of making the decisions," she explained. "Because it's our club. Now, today we just want to take down everyone's names, and maybe an idea of what you might want to do – you know, whether you want to act, or help backstage or what. And then, if anyone's got any ideas about what play we could do, tell me or Tilly."

Tilly herself produced a piece of parchment and a quill, and began to pass it round the room as Lucy went on talking.

"By the way, I ought to tell you. Professor Clearwater said we could only have this club on two conditions. One, we have to not let it affect our schoolwork. So you'd better all work hard and make sure it doesn't." She stared sternly round the group. "And second, it has to include all four houses equally, and help house unity, so there's going to be _no_ fighting between houses at all. Or else Clearwater'll close us down. Okay?"

There was an assenting murmur, then Issie Malfoy looked up from the parchment she had just finished writing her name on, and glanced round the room.

"Well, that's a bit of a problem," she remarked. "There are no Slytherins here, so how can we include them equally?"

Lucy also looked round, disconcerted for a moment. "Oh. So there aren't. Well." Her brown eyes took on the determined expression all her friends were familiar with. "There will be by next time. In fact, we need more people in general. Get recruiting, all of you."

* * *

"How's Lucy's drama group going?" Albus asked Farah as they patrolled the corridor together one night. "I saw she'd put posters up everywhere."

Farah laughed. "She's your cousin. Ask her."

"You're the one who promised to help her with it," Al retorted. "I don't want to get involved with Lucy's mad schemes, thanks."

"Well, when I asked her, she said they'd had the first meeting and quite a few people came along. So it looks like it's happening, anyway. And there've been no more fights," she added hopefully. "So maybe things are going to settle down after all."

Albus sighed. It was true that there had been no more trouble, at least none that they had found out about. But only the day before, they had been informed that their input would indeed be wanted on planning the Yule Ball, something Al was extremely uninterested in. Then this morning he had ended up accidentally sitting opposite Sapphie at breakfast, and had discovered that things between them were still very awkward after all. And there was the stupid letter he had received that morning and which was still in his pocket, with its even stupider demands. He had no intention of complying with the demands, but refusing them would probably be difficult, given who they came from.

"That would be nice," he agreed. "But I'm not holding my breath."


	3. We Need Some Slytherins

The peace lasted only a few days. The following Sunday, Weylin Nott arrived in the hospital wing with the results of two different jinxes, and refused to say who had cast them.

"We have to stop this!" Farah said to Albus, as they met outside the library.

He didn't have to ask what she was talking about.

"I know. But how? We don't even know who it was. It could have been anyone – the Notts aren't that popular any more, even inside Slytherin. A lot of people think they overstepped a line when they attacked Hogwarts students. Even the rest of the League turned against them. Anyone could have targeted him."

Farah frowned. "We could ask Scorpius."

Albus looked quizzically at her. "I seriously don't think it was him." He couldn't think of anyone less likely to jinx a third-year than Scorpius Malfoy, who was a prefect, tended to be quiet, and was, in Al's opinion, quite a decent guy, whatever bad blood had gone down between Malfoy and James.

Farah rolled her eyes. "Of course it wasn't him. I'm not stupid. I mean, we could see what he thinks. What the mood's like in Slytherin, whether any of them know anything, that sort of thing. He'd want to help – he's never been into the house rivalry either." She left unspoken the fact that not all the prefects – of any house – would feel the same. Being a prefect didn't necessarily make someone a neutral party.

Albus considered this. "It's worth asking," he acknowledged. "But go carefully. I mean, remember that Nott's parents tried to frame Malfoy's mother for that Imperius Curse last year. He's not into house rivalry, but he does have plenty of reasons not to like the Notts."

"Well, I'll be tactful," she agreed. "But I still think he'll be up for helping. He's not the kind of person to hate people because of their relatives. If he was, he'd have plenty of reasons to hate you as well, and you've always seemed to get on okay."

Albus laughed. "True. Though I'm not sure Jamie's stupid pranks are quite on the same level as trying to get his mum sent to prison."

Thinking of James and Malfoy in the same sentence had reminded him of that stupid letter, though, and he sighed.

Farah tilted an eyebrow at him. "What's the matter?"

Albus looked at her, and for a moment hesitated on the point of telling her. He counted Farah as a good friend; they had been friends ever since they'd been made prefects in their fifth year, and he'd been very pleased when he'd heard who had been made Head Girl. They'd never really had the sort of friendship where they confided in each other, but he felt fairly sure he could trust her. But no. It wasn't his secret, was it? Anyway, it wasn't anything he needed help with; it was just irritating.

"Nothing," he said. "But if you don't mind, I'll let you talk to Malfoy. I'm pretty sure he's been avoiding having to talk to me, so it'd be a bit awkward."

"Why?" She frowned. "I mean, that's fine, but you just agreed that you get on okay with him – why would he be avoiding talking to you? Is it because of your brother? Or – oh! Did your dad have to investigate his mum?"

"Well, I think he did, yeah," Albus said. "Though he didn't tell us anything about it. It might be that, I suppose, but I doubt it." He sighed. "I think it's a lot more to do with Lily."

"Lily?" He watched Farah's face go from puzzlement to sudden realisation. "Oh! Of course – I forgot. All those rumours about them last year. But it was just rumours, wasn't it?" She gave him a stern look. "You didn't go and talk to him about them, did you?"

"Merlin, no!" Al shook his head. "I leave the heavy-handed nineteenth-century guardian act to Jamie. I don't care what Lily does so long as she's okay. Anyway, it _was_ just rumours. Lily said there was nothing going on, and she's shit at lying, so I believe her. But they did pretty much go round the whole school – I'd feel awkward about it if I was Malfoy."

Farah rolled her eyes. "Well, the whole thing sounds ridiculous to me. I haven't noticed Lily being all embarrassed about it."

Albus grinned. "Yeah, well. Lily's not easily embarrassed. It did get to her though. You should have heard her laying into James when he tried to get involved."

"I can't imagine Lily laying into anyone." Farah laughed. "But from the sound of it, he deserved it."

"He usually does," Albus agreed.

"Well, I'd have thought you and Lily would be taking deep breaths of relief now he's not here any more," Farah said. "He can't interfere in anything now."

"This is James we're talking about," said Al with a sigh. "Of course he can."

* * *

Lucy cornered Padraig Finnegan before dinner, and demanded to know whether he – or anyone else they were friends with – had had anything to do with the jinxing of Weylin Nott.

"No!" Padraig scowled at her. "Just because we got in a fight once doesn't mean it's always us. I don't know who it was."

Lucy looked hard at him for a moment, then nodded. "Okay. I was just checking."

"Luce, I don't go round hexing people just for the fun of it. They started it last time. And anyway, Nott didn't even do anything, just stood there and watched. Why would I pick on him?"

"Well, a lot of people don't like him much," Lucy said quietly. "Everyone knows what his parents did."

"Well, I didn't hex him," Padraig said impatiently. "Nor did Artemis. And we're not going to, so stop making a fuss about it."

Lucy said no more, but she was very quiet and thoughtful all the way through dinner, and the following morning appeared at breakfast with a pleased expression that suggested she knew something other people didn't.

"I've just got an idea," was all she would say when her friends asked her.

Her first lesson was Arithmancy, which none of Lucy's close friends took. There were a number of other Hufflepuffs, with whom she was vaguely friendly, but instead of going to sit with them, Lucy made for the back corner of the classroom. She had a plan, and nothing was going to deter her from it.

The back desk was occupied by none other than Weylin Nott, sitting with his friend, Titus Hart. In front of them was an empty desk, and Lucy dropped her bag beside it. Hart looked up and frowned.

"What are you doing, Weasley?" he demanded.

"I'm sitting here," Lucy said cheerfully, and proceeded to do just that, ignoring their puzzled expressions. "The seat's not taken, is it?" Without waiting for a reply, she leaned down and pulled a handful of her drama club flyers out of her bag. "I wanted to give you guys these." She tilted her chair back and slid one across the desk to Hart.

Hart scowled. "What the hell?"

"It's information about the new drama club," Lucy went on, as if she'd been asked a polite question. However, she watched their faces intently. Nott, she noticed, still had the remains of what looked like a strangely lime-green bruise above his left eye.

"Why would we want these?" Hart asked, picking one up and staring at it.

"_Because_, it's an inter-house drama club," Lucy explained. "It's going to be a pretty big deal. Clearwater's said we can do it, so we're going to put on a big show before Christmas. We'll be inviting parents, and probably the school governors as well," she invented casually. "There's a load of people who've put their names down already, but I thought you guys might be interested, because at the moment Slytherin's the only house not being represented. And I don't know, of course, but I'd have thought there might be quite a lot of house points in it, so I thought it'd be unfair if Slytherin didn't get the chance to join in."

Getting her own way was something that Lucy, the youngest in a very large family, had become something of an expert at. To do so, she had utilised many of the traits that made her a Hufflepuff: unwavering friendliness, stubbornness and determination. She had also, however, had to develop some distinctly un-Hufflepuff skills, and she put as much innocence and honesty as she could into her voice as she told the string of half-truths. The two boys looked at each other, and for a moment, she was hopeful.

Then Hart scoffed. "What a load of bullshit." He screwed the flyer up into a ball and tossed it to the ground. "Who cares? Your friends are over _there_, Weasley. Go and get them to join your stupid club."

For a moment, Lucy's lips set in a line, then she took a deep breath. "It's not bullshit. We really are starting a club, and we want you to join. If you're not interested, fine. But at least think about it."

Hart opened his mouth to speak, but Nott got there first.

"We're not interested," he said flatly. "Sorry. You should probably go back and sit with the rest of them."

Lucy looked at him for a moment, and nobody spoke. Then she shrugged.

"Suit yourself. If you change your minds, let me know." She turned back to the front of the classroom and began to dig her textbook out of her bag as the professor called for silence.

"What are you doing, Weasley?" Hart hissed again, from behind.

Lucy glanced over her shoulder. "I told you. I'm sitting here."

* * *

"So, have you thought about it?"

Weylin Nott looked up from the piece of toast he was spreading jam on, and scowled. All he was trying to do this year was survive. With his parents both in prison, and the entire school knowing about it, he had no expectation of the year being anything other than completely grim, but as long as he kept his head down, he might just be alive at the end of it. The last thing he needed was Lucy bloody Weasley trying to… well, he wasn't even sure what she was trying to do. It didn't matter; he wanted nothing to do with it.

"No." It was Titus who replied, not even looking at Weasley.

"Thought about what?" Oscar Selwyn demanded from the other side of Weylin. "What are you even doing here, Weasley? This is the Slytherin table." Oscar didn't take Arithmancy, and neither of the others had thought to tell him about Lucy Weasley's mad scheme.

Weasley smiled brightly, and Titus groaned.

"Shut up, Oscar. Don't encourage her," he said, but Weasley ignored him.

"This!" she said, producing yet another of her little flyers. "We're starting a drama club. All houses welcome! Weylin and Titus are thinking about joining."

Weylin finished spreading his toast and put his knife down. As far as he was aware, he and Lucy Weasley had never been on first-name terms.

"No, we aren't," he said tightly, before Titus could say anything even ruder. People were already staring at them and he needed her to go away. Ideally before his older brother spotted him chatting to a Weasley over breakfast.

"We still need lots more people," Weasley chattered on, as if he hadn't spoken. "We're going to be deciding on a play at the next meeting, so if you've got any ideas, you could bring them along. We'd like to start with something ambitious, to show Clearwater what we can do. Maybe some Shakespeare."

"Some what?" Oscar looked blankly at her.

Weylin wasn't much better informed himself, though he didn't intend to admit it. He'd heard the name, but had no idea what – or who – it was. However, before Weasley could answer, another voice broke in from behind her.

"You've never heard of Shakespeare, Selwyn?" it said scornfully.

Weasley spun round, and beamed at the dark-curled girl behind her. Weylin's scowl deepened, and he attended once more to his toast. Eris Montague, sister of Zeno Montague, who was someone Weylin tried to avoid these days. Once, Zeno, who was a fourth-year, had been his friend, or at least had seemed to be. He had let Weylin tag along with their little gang, both at school and at the Pureblood gatherings in the holidays, and Weylin had been too scared of becoming an outcast to object to the things they did, even when they got quite nasty. Mr and Mrs Montague had been in the League with Weylin's parents. And yet, Weylin's parents were now in Azkaban, while the Montagues had got away with everything. And Zeno no longer wanted anything to do with Weylin, except to throw taunts. Eris was a year below him, and therefore completely unimportant, but everyone knew that the Montagues were all the same.

"Oh, you know Shakespeare? That's great! You could come along and help us choose one!" Weasley exclaimed, seeming delighted.

"Of course I know Shakespeare." Eris scowled. "Come where and choose what?"

"The drama club." Weasley snatched the flyer she had given Oscar, and gave it instead to Eris. "We're looking for members."

"Drama club?" Eris stared at the piece of parchment in her hand, and Weylin, hearing a strange note in her voice, couldn't help looking at her face. She seemed to have some sort of internal struggle going on. "What d'you mean, members? What would we do?"

Eris, in imitation of her older brother and sister, usually spoke with a sneer in her voice, and it was still there, but it was definitely weaker than normal. However, at least Weasley seemed to have lost interest in Weylin, Titus and Oscar, which was one good thing. Weylin took a bite of his toast, but couldn't help keeping an ear on the conversation going on beside him. Oscar was openly listening.

"Anything you want," Weasley replied. "We really need more actors, but you could help out lots of other ways."

"So, there are still, you know… good parts free?" Eris asked slowly, and the sneer had almost entirely gone.

"All of them," said Weasley promptly. "We haven't even decided on a play, let alone started casting. So if you're interested, you could be just about anything. You can even help us pick a play with parts you like!"

Weylin saw Eris swallow. Despite himself, he was intrigued. This was not Montague-like behaviour.

"Right," she said at last. "Well, maybe. You know. If I've got nothing better to do." That sounded more like her, but her tone didn't sound at all convincing.

"Great!" Weasley beamed, then glanced over her shoulder to where Oscar was gaping at her, and Titus was pointedly ignoring everything around him. Weylin hastily pretended to be ignoring it too.

"Bring this lot too, if you can," Weasley said, and then scurried off.

* * *

"What were you doing?" Tilly hissed in Lucy's ear, as Lucy seated herself at her own table. Max was there, and Tilly had come over to join them.

"Recruiting," Lucy answered calmly.

"_Them?_"

"Why not? Look, don't _you_ start. We need some Slytherins, or Clearwater won't let us keep going. And why not them? I thought Nott might quite like the idea of making some new friends, after what happened. I was trying to be friendly, that's all. Though he didn't seem that interested." She was cast down for a moment, then brightened again. "That other girl did though. What's-her-name."

"Eris Montague," Max put in, his voice carefully neutral. "The kid who was mean to Issie Malfoy all last year."

"Oh." Lucy looked disconcerted. "I forgot that was her. Well." Her chin tilted upwards. "They'll just have to get over it, won't they?"


	4. Old Enemies

**A/N: And the house move is all done, so I'm getting back to writing!**

**Just to confirm, in case there's any confusion: If you've read House of Cards, you'll notice that some characters' first names have changed (as well as some houses). If they seem like they ought to be the same person as a character from HoC, then they probably are, just with a new name. Sorry about that!**

**I try not to ask for reviews the whole time these days, but it would be really lovely to get some more on this one! I know there are a few people reading it, from follows and favourites, but I would love you forever if you took the time to let me know what you think of it. Reviews are what give me the motivation to keep going with stories!**

* * *

Scorpius Malfoy sat opposite the Head Girl, staring at her in some bemusement as she finished explaining her thoughts. Beside her, Albus Potter lounged on a desk, looking as if he didn't really want to be there. So far, he had done none of the talking. Other than the three of them, the Charms Classroom was empty. It wasn't exactly the standard place for a prefects' meeting, but then it wasn't exactly a standard prefects' meeting, as he was the only one who had been invited to attend.

"So, hang on," Scorpius said slowly. "What exactly do you want me to do here? I mean, sure, I'm all for stopping the kids fighting, but aren't we doing everything we can for that already? That's sort of a prefect's job, isn't it?"

Farah sighed. "Yes, of course. But things are getting worse – you must have noticed it. There've been three fights already this year, and then I'm pretty sure Weylin Nott's black eye wasn't an accident."

"There are always fights," Scorpius pointed out.

"Not _house_ fights. Not really. Mostly it's just people fighting other people because they don't like them, not because they don't like their house. I'm not counting stupid arguments about Quidditch, or pranks, or whatever. Those are always going to happen as long as we have houses in competition with each other. I mean real fights, with a gang of Gryffindors up against a gang of Slytherins, and people getting hurt. Three already this term – and up to now, we've had maybe one in a single year. And I'm not saying it's just Slytherin and Gryffindor," she added hastily. "We need to deal with it in all four houses."

"Except it mostly _is_ Slytherin and Gryffindor," Albus put in, speaking for the first time. "At least, all the fights so far this year have been."

Scorpius glanced at him. He was right, of course, and so was Farah. But what could they possibly do about it? They couldn't erase decades, if not centuries, of bad feeling. And they couldn't undo what had happened last year.

"Okay," he agreed. "You're right. But I still don't get what you want me to do."

"Well, look," Farah said seriously. "You're a Slytherin prefect. And whether we like it or not, a lot of this is because of the League, and the people whose families were involved are almost all in Slytherin. I'm not saying this is Slytherin's fault – the opposite, really. It's because of people blaming Slytherins, and that just reminds people of lots of old stuff that ought to be put behind us. And we need to stop it _now_, before it gets worse and we're back to where we were thirty years ago or whenever."

"Yes," Scorpius said, feeling a little exasperated. "But _how_?"

Farah sighed. "Well… I don't really know," she admitted. "Which is partly why we wanted your help. Some people just can't see beyond some idea of house loyalty – and that includes some prefects. But we know you're not into that stuff."

"Well, my sister's a Gryffindor," he pointed out.

"Yes, exactly!" Farah agreed brightly. "So really, we just wanted someone from Slytherin on board to… to, well, spread a bit of a better influence."

Scorpius stared at her. He thought she had seriously overestimated his influence with his housemates. He wasn't even that popular. He opened his mouth to try and explain this, but she ploughed on.

"We're going to bring it up at the next general prefects' meeting. So, will you back us up?"

"Well, yeah, okay," he agreed. "But you know, this isn't just an inter-house thing. You should hear what goes on in the Slytherin Common Room. I wouldn't even be surprised if Weylin Nott got that eye from someone in his own house."

Farah looked slightly taken aback. "Really? Well, I was going to ask you about that kind of thing – what the mood was like and everything."

Scorpius shrugged. "It's… mixed, I suppose. Not everyone in Slytherin had families in the League – in fact, most people didn't. And even most of the ones who did, their families are saying they were nothing to do with the attacks. A lot of people don't want anything to do with the Notts any more – there were some people saying Ariadne should be kicked off the Quidditch team."

"What?" Farah exclaimed. "But that's stupid! It's got nothing to do with Quidditch – and she's one of your best players!"

"Yeah, well. That's pretty much what Xanthe Derrick said, and she's the captain now so she makes the final decisions - Ariadne's staying on the team. But still, that should give you some idea. And it's not only the Notts – Jareth Flint's mother's in prison too."

Farah swung round to Albus. "What about Gryffindor? You said yourself that all the trouble so far has been people from your two houses – what are they saying there?"

Albus considered the question.

"Well… lots of different people are saying lots of different things, just like in Slytherin," he said at last. "There are plenty of people who want to blame Slytherin for everything because it's easier to have someone to blame, and Slytherin have always been the big rivals. Plus, people are worried. There haven't been attacks like that since they cleaned things up after the war. And it might have finished up with that thing in the Muggle village, but nobody's forgotten that Angharad and Meri both got attacked first – and they're both Gryffindors."

Farah groaned, and leaned her head in her hands. "It's all a mess!" she said. "Maybe what we need isn't house unity-building – maybe it's just some general morale-boosting!"

Albus laughed suddenly, and Scorpius looked at him in surprise.

"Well then, you don't need to worry," Albus said with more than a touch of sarcasm. "We've got the Yule Ball at the end of term. That'll do the job."

* * *

The History of Magic classroom was, once again, the chosen spot for the meeting of the drama club. Lucy, watching people come in and perch themselves on desks and chairs, chatting to each other, smiled faintly to herself. Her recruitment drive had worked, and there were quite a few new members. As she thought this, the door opened. Several people close to it glanced round, and surprise registered on more than one face.

Eris Montague marched through the door, her chin held high, and something approaching a smirk on her face at the reaction she had caused. Behind her came two others who looked considerably more uncomfortable: her best friend, Lilith Avery, and – to even Lucy's surprise – Oscar Selwyn, who shuffled in with his hands in his pockets, looking very embarrassed. After a split second's pause, Lucy pulled herself together and jumped off the desk she had been sitting on, with a wide smile.

"Great! You came!" she exclaimed, while her friends exchanged wide-eyed glances behind her.

Eris shrugged. "Well, I thought I'd see if it was any good," she said disdainfully, looking round at the small gathering.

"Good. I'm glad you did," Lucy said, ignoring Eris's tone, and smiled at the other two Slytherins. "You as well. Are Weylin and Titus coming?"

Oscar shook his head without quite looking at her. "No, they wouldn't come," he mumbled. "I'm only here to shut _her_ up." He jerked his head at Eris.

"Well, that's okay. Maybe next time," Lucy said brightly. "Now—"

She broke off as the door opened again. This time, the newcomers were expected; Alice, Issie and Jake came in together, giggling over something one of them had said, and not immediately taking any notice of anyone else in the room. Lucy hesitated, glancing over at them, and the three Slytherins saw her look, and turned that way. Eris's brows came down, and at that moment, Issie looked up and saw Eris.

For a moment, the two second-years stood and stared at each other. Alice and Jake both looked dismayed, but Issie's face had gone blank.

"What are _you_ doing here?" she demanded of Eris.

Lucy decided that that would be a good moment to intervene, so before Eris could reply, she stepped forward.

"She's joining the club," she said blithely, as if she couldn't see the way the two younger girls were looking at each other. "You know, you were saying last time that we needed some Slytherins." Issie opened her mouth, probably to argue, but Lucy ploughed on. "She wants to act, which is great because we really need more actors." She looked at Oscar and Lilith. "What about you two, are you up for acting? Actually, never mind – we're going to talk about this all together, when the meeting starts. Come on, let's get everyone sitting down."

She stepped between the two little groups, and shepherded them towards the others. Swept along with her, Issie and Eris could do no more than glare at each other. Max, Lucy noticed, was looking at her with an expression that said 'I told you so', but she ignored him. The thing to do was get everything started, so people forgot to be annoyed with each other.

"Right!" she announced. "I think that's everyone here. Let's get started. Here." She produced the list of names from the previous meeting, and held it out to Eris. "New people, put your names on here, and write down what you'd like to do. And then…"

"Hey, I never said I was _signing up_," Oscar Selwyn interrupted her. "I only came to see what you were doing."

Lucy gave him an exasperated look. "Fine then, _don't_ put your name down. If you make your mind up later, let us know. But it's not like we're getting you to make an Unbreakable Vow – even if you put your name on the list, you can always quit later if you want. It doesn't matter though." She turned back to group at large, and went on before Oscar could say any more. "I want to decide on which play we're going to do today. What ideas has everyone got?"

She looked around the group. There was a silence. Everyone looked blankly back at her.

Eris Montague finished writing her name down, and looked up. "I thought you said you were doing Shakespeare?"

Lucy pounced on this. "Shakespeare! Well, that's one good idea. Which one?"

Eris blinked. "_I_ don't know. You're the one who said it, Weasley. I thought you were supposed to be in charge. Are you just getting everyone else to come up with your ideas?"

"Shut up, Montague," Padraig said.

At the same moment, from the seat she had selected across the room, Issie said: "Well, if you've got a problem, you can always leave."

"Stop it!" Lucy broke in, but Tilly giggled from the other side of her, and she looked round.

"Well, at this rate, I know which play we should do," Tilly remarked. "Ever heard of _Romeo and Juliet_? You lot should do warring houses pretty well."

* * *

Scorpius had left the meeting with Albus and Farah with mixed feelings. He knew they were right, of course, at least as far as their intentions went. But they obviously had no clue of how things were among the families of those involved, and he didn't think the problem was one they could fix. It went deeper than a bunch of kids scrapping in the corridor. He himself shared a common room with Searle Nott, the oldest of the Nott siblings, and he had seen the hatred in the glances Nott threw his way. They had never liked each other much, but Nott seemed inclined to blame anyone he could for his parents being in prison, and that included Scorpius. He had not done anything about it, and Scorpius didn't think he'd dare to, but all the same, he wouldn't want to come on Nott alone.

And it wasn't just Nott. A lot of people had come out against the League, it was true, but Electra Flint was in prison (as was Scorpius's own aunt, though his mother being cleared had seemed to raise him above any suspicion of League sympathies), and young Lilith Avery's uncle was there too. And there were numerous other families, even including the parents of Scorpius's friend Danny Urquart, who had been members of the League before it became public knowledge what sort of organisation it really was. Scorpius knew that Danny would never have anything to do with the dark arts or Muggle persecution, but he didn't know much about the real loyalties of his parents or the people like them, or even of some of his other housemates. Of course, there were a few League families in other houses as well, but as it had mostly been an association of the old Pureblood families, the majority were Slytherin.

Scorpius didn't think Albus Potter and Farah Jilani really had any idea of how complicated it all was. And he himself would much rather not have got involved, except he couldn't say that, could he? He was a prefect, which meant he had responsibilities.

Now, several days later, he was in the library, trying to keep his mind on the Transfiguration essay he had to write, and the books he needed for it. What with all the distractions last year, he hadn't done very well in his exams. He needed to make up for it this year, because he had NEWTs at the end of it.

As he scanned the shelves, he almost tripped over someone who was sitting on the floor – or rather, their bag, which was lying beside them.

"Oh – sorry," he said automatically, without even realising who it was. Then as he did, he added: "Hey."

Lily Potter glanced up at him, startled, then smiled as she recognised him.

"It's okay. I'm right in the way," she said, pulling her bag closer to her. "Are you looking for Transfiguration too?"

"Yeah. I've got an essay due on Wednesday." He spotted one of the books he wanted, and pulled it off the shelf, trying to give himself time to think. He liked Lily. Until last year, he'd never taken any notice of her; she'd just been James Potter's little sister, and he and James had always loathed each other (although he'd never had a problem with Albus). But Lily had been very nice to Issie, when Issie had been alone and unhappy, and for that he was grateful to her. Then, that had led to him actually talking to her on a few occasions, and he had discovered that, for all she seemed to have her head in the clouds a lot of the time, she was actually a nice person.

Unfortunately, Hogwarts gossip being what it was, you couldn't have normal conversations with someone of another sex without people ('people' being Xanthe Derrick in this case) starting rumours, especially when you were from two families who were supposed to hate each other. Scorpius found the idea of holding onto previous generations' grudges ridiculous, but the fact remained that pairing his name with that of Lily Potter had made some good gossip. There had been absolutely nothing in it – he and Lily had never done more than have the odd civil conversation – and the whole thing had been both embarrassing and infuriating. And the uncomfortable truth was, she_ was_ attractive, though he'd probably never even have thought about the fact if other people – including his friends – hadn't insisted on talking about it. Scorpius didn't go in for casual crushes, and he didn't know her well enough for it to be anything more.

For that reason, though, he'd avoided her for most of last term, which hadn't been that hard, since they were in different years and houses. Last time he'd talked to her had been before Easter, and they'd been caught in the middle of a League attack at the time. He could probably make some excuse now, and leave before anyone saw them talking, but he was fed up of letting the gossips get to him. He didn't want his friendships – if you could even call him and Lily friends – dictated by other people's stupid misconceptions.

So he turned back to her with an answering smile. "What about you?"

Lily pulled a face. "Same, only mine's due tomorrow. I hate Transfiguration," she said gloomily. "I can't wait until I don't have to do it next year. Anyway." She got to her feet. "How've you been? Issie said your baby brother's doing well now, and your mum too."

Scorpius nodded. "Yeah, they're fine." It had been nearly a year ago that Caelum had been born, and both he and Mum had been so ill. But he supposed that was an easier topic than the fact that his mum had been arrested and accused of dark art activity in the spring.

"What about your friend?" Lily went on. "How's she?"

"Oh, you mean Hazel? She's fine too." Scorpius gave her a quick glance. His Muggle friend, Hazel Kitson, had been the reason he – and, by extension, Lily – had been in the Muggle village when the League had attacked it. Hazel had almost been killed, and so had James Potter; in fact, Hazel had saved his life. So much was public knowledge. However, Scorpius also knew the more recent parts of the story, and he was not sure that Lily did, so felt he'd like to change the subject.

"I talked to Issie this morning - she was telling me about that club your cousin started," he said instead, with a grin.

Lily laughed. "Yeah, the drama club. It sounds quite fun, actually, but she's not letting anyone older than third year join."

"I wonder if Clearwater'll actually let them put on their play," Scorpius mused. "If they ever get that far, of course."

"Oh, they'll get that far," Lily assured him. "You don't know Lucy. If she decides to do something, she does it. Doesn't mean the play'll be _good_, of course," she added with another laugh. "But don't tell Lucy I said that."

Scorpius also laughed, remembering that Lily Potter was surprisingly easy to talk to, something he always found himself forgetting in between conversations with her, and rediscovering all over again.

"Would you have joined if she'd let you, then?" he asked.

Lily shrugged. "I don't know. I might have. Would _you_?"

He laughed again. "I doubt it. Can't really see myself on stage, you know?"

At that moment, Madam Pince, the librarian, appeared round the corner of the shelves.

"No talking!" she hissed. "This is a _library_!"

Scorpius looked at Lily, and her eyes were dancing as she bit her lip, apparently trying not to laugh. He had to bite back a grin himself at the sight, and quickly looked away.

"Sorry," he muttered to the librarian, then held up the book in his hand and glanced again at Lily. "I've got my book Are you ready to go?"

"I think I've got everything I'm going to find," Lily said resignedly. "Come on."

"Sssh!" Madam Pince whispered after them, and they hastily fled the library.

Lily burst into giggles the moment they were outside, and grinned up at him.

"Are prefects supposed to get chucked out of the library?" she asked teasingly.

"We didn't get chucked out," he retorted. "We left. Before we were chucked out."

"Okay, if you're going to get _technical," _she allowed, then smiled in a different, more serious way. "I'm glad I bumped into you," she said. "I didn't talk to you all last term – we never even talked about what happened in Kilmary."

He was vaguely surprised that she had even noticed that they had not talked – after all, until last year, they had gone three years at school together without having more than that number of conversations. But he knew what she meant – they'd fought the League together (if you could call stunning two people 'fighting'), and that sort of thing did feel like it should be talked about. Perhaps it was that memory – for you couldn't fight alongside someone without feeling some sort of connection – that made him say what he said next, because afterwards he couldn't imagine what had possessed him. It certainly hadn't been something he'd planned to say.

"Well, look." He found the words coming out of his mouth without meaning them to. "D'you want to get together and talk properly – maybe when we go to Hogsmeade? We could meet in the Three Broomsticks or something."

After he'd said it, he was immediately horrified. What was he thinking? Asking someone to go to Hogsmeade with you was essentially asking them on a date, unless they were someone you hung out with all the time anyway; that was accepted Hogwarts etiquette. And now he had just asked _Lily Potter_, of all people – who, quite apart from anything else, always seemed to have a queue of guys wanting to go to Hogsmeade with her.

For a moment, she too looked surprised. Then she smiled again, a warm, genuine smile.

"Yes, okay. That'd be nice. I'm heading down there about ten, so I'll see you in the Three Broomsticks at about half past, if that's okay?"

He could only nod and agree, still wondering what on earth he had done. As she walked away, though, she turned back briefly, her eyes slightly mischievous.

"Well, that'll _really_ give Xanthe Derrick something to talk about."

* * *

_Letters to Albus Potter from his older brother:_

14th September 2023

Al,

Answer your fucking letters. Or are you too busy wanking off over your badge, or whatever Head Boy duties actually involve?

James

* * *

20th September 2023

Al,

What the hell? I asked you one favour. Come on, Al. I'd do the same for you. And I was joking about the badge thing, obviously. Don't get all huffy.

* * *

29th September 2023

Al,

That's none of your business and I'm not telling you. But obviously I'm somewhat serious about this or I wouldn't have asked you to do it. Never mind, though. It's not that much of a big deal – just forget it. And remind me not to ask you for important favours again.

James

* * *

5th October 2023

I said forget it.

* * *

11th October 2023

Please tell me that what I heard is not true, and Lily did not go to Hogsmeade with Scorpius Malfoy. I mean, seriously, I know she has bad taste, but that's a bit too far to ignore. Zeke Lucas was bad enough. You'd better be going to have a word with her.

James


	5. Casting

**A/N: Many thanks for the reviews, folks! Hope you enjoy this one!**

* * *

Albus had not replied to James's final letter, or to the one before it, telling him to forget what James had asked him. He was annoyed with his brother, although he couldn't help feeling a little guilty too. James had asked him for help, and he'd refused. But then, he told himself, it had been a ridiculous request. James had always seemed perfectly well able to manage his love life by himself. Plus, a nasty part of Albus's brain insisted on reminding him that James did not deserve his help, since he was the one who had ruined Albus's relationship with Sapphie.

Of course, if he was completely honest with himself, Albus knew that part of that was his own fault too, and part of it was also Sapphie's, so it was unfair to blame James entirely. But he didn't think he was being entirely unreasonable by being angry that his brother had snogged his ex-girlfriend a matter of hours after they had broken up, no matter how drunk both James and Sapphie had been. That had been nearly a year ago, and he liked to think that he had moved on by now; moved on from Sapphie, and even forgiven James. But it was still annoying – if typical of his brother – that James would think it was okay to ask him for favours like that, as if he'd forgotten what had happened.

The whole thing, though, had been slightly weird and a bit out of character for James , who usually breezed through casual flirtations and dropped them before there was any risk of them going further. He didnt usually take this amount of trouble over them. Thinking about it, Al couldn't avoid the conclusion that maybe James was actually more serious about this one than was normal. By the time he'd come to that realisation, though, he'd already refused Jamie's request, which was why he felt a little bad about it.

Not bad enough to change his mind, though. Quite apart from not owing James any favours, he most certainly was not going to go up to Scorpius Malfoy and try to extract information about Malfoy's friend Hazel, as if they were all about twelve. Let James do his own work.

However, James's most recent letter was about something entirely different, and Albus found himself staring down at it as he sat alone beside the Gryffindor common room fire during a free lesson one day, wondering what to do about it. This, if anything, was even more ridiculous than the earlier letters, in Albus's view. Lily had every right to do what she wanted without James – or Albus – hounding her about it. The trouble was, he didn't think that Jamie would just let it drop, so ignoring it wasn't going to do much good. He was going to have to reply at some point, and try to calm his brother down.

On top of everything else he had to do, it all seemed a bit overwhelming.

He was so lost in thought that he did not hear anyone approach, and the voice that suddenly said, "Oh… um, hey," made him jump. It was a very familiar voice, though. Albus glanced up and his heart sank a little at the sight of Sapphie Jordan. Since breaking up, they had only managed to have a few conversations, and all of them had been extremely awkward.

"Hey," he answered, trying to sound at ease, and sitting back in his chair. He tucked James's letter out of sight, feeling a sudden pang of regret. A year ago, he'd have gone to Sapphie to complain about it all, and she'd have laughed and somehow made the whole thing easier. Now, discussing James with her was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Mind if I sit here?" she asked, gesturing at the chair opposite his, and he thought that she too was trying hard to sound casual. The only other people in the room, though, were a bunch of sixth-years over at the other side, and he thought it would be pretty rude to say no. So he shook his head.

"No, go for it."

She took the seat, and gave him a small smile.

"How's it going?"

He shrugged half-heartedly. "All right. Pretty busy, though. How's the Quidditch team?"

Her face brightened. "Getting on really well, actually. We've got our first match in a week – playing Hufflepuff. Issie Malfoy's shaping up nicely as Seeker. Of course, it's not the same with James gone…" She broke off, clearly realising that mentioning James's name might not have been the best move. There was a tense silence.

"Look, Al!" Sapphie burst out eventually. "We can't carry on like this. We used to be friends, before! We have to talk!"

"We are talking," he pointed out. He knew that that wasn't what she'd meant, and he was aware that he wasn't being very helpful, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't just pretend nothing had happened.

"Please, Al," she went on. "I mean, I know… I know I treated you really badly. And I'm sorry. I just…"

"Sapphie, I don't want to talk about this," he broke in desperately. Maybe she was right. Maybe they ought to discuss it. But he didn't really see the point. It wouldn't change anything, and it was all over and in the past. He wanted it to stay there. He stared at the ground instead of her, but he could still see her out of the corner of his eye. "Seriously," he added. "I just can't get my head into it all again."

She took a breath as if she might carry on, but then let it out again. There was another pause.

"Right," she said unhappily at last. "Okay. That's fine. I just… Well, I wanted you to know I still wanted to be your friend, if you did too."

"Well, I don't," he said harshly, then stopped and swallowed. He hadn't meant to sound that mean, and a quick glance told him that she was biting her lip. But it was true. He didn't want to be her friend. He'd tried that; he'd tried just being polite and normal, but it hadn't worked.

"Right," she said again, and her tone had changed. There was an undercurrent of anger in it. "If that's how you feel, that's that then, isn't it?"

He didn't want it to be like this, but he didn't know what to do about it. He looked at her, but he couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't just make it worse, so he said nothing. Sapphie got up.

"See you around, Al," she said quietly, and walked away.

She'd walked away from him before. The night they'd broken up, he'd watched her walk away then as well. Just as before, she didn't look round. Just as before, he didn't call her back.

* * *

"Oh, come on!" Oscar Selwyn turned to face his two friends, with a look of something like desperation on his face. "You can't leave me on my own with Weasley and her crowd, and only Eris and Lilith to hang around with."

"Well, you don't have to go," Weylin pointed out. He was tired of the whole subject of Lucy Weasley's drama club.

"Yeah, why are you suddenly so keen on the whole thing?" Titus added.

"I'm not. I only went because Eris Montague cornered me and-"

"And you fancy her," Titus finished with a grin.

Oscar went scarlet. "Piss off - I do not! She's just a kid. But I went and put my name down, didn't I? I wasn't going to, but Weasley just... I don't know," he said helplessly. "She doesn't give you any _choice_. Anyway, I don't know why you two are so against it. Weasley said there might be housepoints in it, and Slytherin'll lose out if it's only me, Eris and Lilith. You never know, it could even be fun."

Weylin paused and thought. It wasn't that he really cared about housepoints. He had cared last year, but now he found the whole thing trivial and useless. It was taking up energy, though, arguing with Oscar, and he couldn't be bothered with that either. He couldn't really be bothered with much this year, drama clubs included. Whenever he tried to go on as usual, it all ended up coming back in his mind to the grim facts that his parents were in prison and he didn't know when he was going to see them again, that he had to return to the cheerless company of his grandparents for the holidays, and that Oscar and Titus were the only friends he had left.

He could also do without any more black eyes. Attending a drama club would at least keep him out of the way of the people who had given it to him, and also away from his brother, who kept talking darkly about revenge and justice. On the other hand, it might also make him a laughing stock. But if there were really housepoints going, he could do with winning some. That could at least get his own housemates off his back a bit.

"Okay, fine, I'll come with you," he said with a sigh. "If it'll shut you up about it."

"Seriously?" Oscar looked immensely relieved.

Titus, on the other hand, looked very put out. "What the hell? So you're both going to ditch me and go and ponce round on a stage?"

Oscar, his spirits restored now that he was not going to have to attend alone, grinned. "Why don't you come too? Then nobody's ditching anyone."

"I am not _acting_," Titus said with disgust.

"You don't have to. Weasley wants people to do other stuff as well."

"Well, I suppose I'll have to come, if I don't want to hang around by myself." Titus sighed in an exaggerated way. "But I'm not joining, or doing anything to help."

"What play are they even doing?" Weylin broke in before it could escalate into an argument.

"Some Muggle thing," Oscar said with a shrug. "_Romeo and Julia_, or something."

"_Romeo and Juliet_?" Weylin looked at him, feeling a ridiculous desire to laugh. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, that's it. Why, d'you know it?" Oscar stared at him.

"Well, I know the story, sort of. I bet Weasley picked it on purpose. _That's_ why she wants Slytherins."

* * *

Lucy sat with Tilly in the Ravenclaw Common Room. Strictly speaking, of course, she should not have been there, but Lucy spent quite a lot of time in both the Ravenclaw and the Gryffindor Common Room. There had even been one time, the previous year, when she had managed to get in without Tilly being with her, by solving the riddle correctly, but on this occasion they were perched on a window seat together.

The auditions had taken place, and Lucy thought, optimistically, that they had gone very well. Her list of actors was short, but it had grown since her recruitment drive. There had been a couple of Ravenclaws from their own year, a handful of second-years, and half a dozen first-years, who were very enthusiastic but not very good. Max had given it a go, and they had persuaded Artemis to try, on the condition that Pádraig did too. Pádraig had been very reluctant, but he had caved under the pressure from both Lucy and Artemis. Jake Nelson had convinced Alice to give it a go, although Issie had not been able to come to the auditions at all, since she had had Quidditch practise. Jake and Alice had, however, brought along a few other friends from their own house. Then, of course, there had been the Slytherins. Not only Eris, Lilith and Oscar, but Weylin Nott and Titus Hart too. That had been a surprise, even to Lucy, but a welcome one, even if Pádraig had muttered rudely about them.

She herself was going to be the Director, of course, with Tilly as Producer. She did not, however, intend to pass up the opportunity to act, and had complacently claimed the character of the Nurse for herself. The other parts, she and Tilly had to decide together.

"Well, it's obvious who's got to be Juliet," Tilly remarked, looking at the bits of parchment they had written notes down on.

"I s'pose so," Lucy agreed. "She was good, wasn't she? I just hope she's not going to make any trouble."

"Well, if she does, you can kick her out," Tilly replied. "We can't _not_ give her the part - she was too good. Though she's a bit young," she added critically.

"We're all a bit young," Lucy pointed out. "Anyway, she's going to be thirteen next week - I asked her. That's the right age for Juliet."

"Okay. Eris Montague as Juliet." Tilly wrote this down. "What about Romeo?"

The two girls looked at each other, and grins appeared on their faces as they realised that they were both thinking the same thing.

"He'll kill us," said Tilly cheerfully.

Lucy giggled. "It's his own fault. He told me he was planning on being crap, so we wouldn't give him a part at all. I don't think he knows what crap means."

"What if he won't do it?" Tilly asked.

Lucy looked determined. "He will."

Beside the name _Romeo_, Tilly carefully wrote: 'Pádraig Finnigan'.

Lucy looked over her shoulder, a sudden thought coming into her head and making her laugh again.

Tilly looked up. "What?"

"I was just thinking. We picked this play because of what you said about warring houses. And that's what all this is supposed to be about. I mean, it's not why I planned to do it, but it's why Clearwater agreed to it. House unity. That's basically the message of _Romeo and Juliet_. And so far, we've got a Slytherin Juliet and a Gryffindor Romeo."

Tilly also laughed. "So we have. I wonder what Pádraig would say if we made them kiss..."

"No, but what if we keep on with that?" Lucy persisted. "We could make all the Capulets Slytherins and all the Montegues Gryffindors - of course, it ought to be the other way round," she added, "because of Eris's surname, but never mind that. We've got enough from each house to do it, mostly, so long as we didn't worry about the servant characters. I thought the first-years could play them. Weylin Nott was good too - he could be Tybalt. Then Selwyn could be Lord Capulet. Leon Gairdner's a Gryffindor - he could play Lord Montague, and Alice could be Lady Montague. She said she didn't want a speaking part, but that's okay - we'll convince her. Jake'll make a good Benvolio. And then the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws can be the more neutral characters. Max can play Friar Lawrence, and Nathan and Mark can be Paris and the Prince," she went on, naming the two third-year Ravenclaws Tilly had persuaded to come along.

"That's brilliant!" Tilly said gleefully. "It's perfect. And the other second-years and the first-years can play the smaller parts. Oh - what about Mercutio?"

Lucy thought for a moment. "Artemis," she said at last. "There's no reason why Mercutio has to be a boy. And she was quite good, and she hasn't got a part yet. Plus, that means her and Pádraig get to act together, so they might be a bit keener."

The two girls looked at each other, delight over their scheme increasing.

"And the best part is, most of the school doesn't know anything about the play," Lucy said after a pause. "So they won't know what's coming. This is going to be the best thing ever."

* * *

Lily Potter was angry. In fact, the last time she had been this angry had been last year, when James had gone and threatened Zeke, just because he and Lily had gone to Hogsmeade together and kissed a bit. Her anger now was directed at the same person, although she thought that in fact, she might be even more angry than she had been then.

The letter had come by the morning post, and she had been vaguely surprised to see it, since her oldest brother didn't write to her that often. Of course, until this year, that was because they'd been at school together, but she hadn't really been expecting to hear from him even now. However, she'd been inclined to feel pleased that he'd bothered, until she read the contents. At which point she'd gone very red and choked on her morning coffee. Meri, sitting beside her, had asked her what was wrong.

"_James_ is wrong!" Lily had said furiously. "_Honestly. _It's the same as last year - only this time, he's gone and found out I was with Scorpius Malfoy in Hogsmeade.

Meri has bitten her lip as if trying not to laugh.

"It's not funny!" Lily had told her.

"Well, it is a _little_ bit," Meri had argued. "I mean, it's not like there's anything he can actually do. He's just being stupid."

Lily had taken the letter back and read it again. In the face of Meri's usual common sense, she had been able, she supposed, to see something of the funny side herself. But, as she walked down the corridor towards her first lesson, the anger was creeping back in full force.

Who had told James that she had met Scorpius in Hogsmeade, she had no idea. She supposed it could have been just about anyone – they hadn't made a secret of it. One of her cousins was the likeliest, but it needn't even have been someone from school, as there had been plenty of other people in the Three Broomsticks. It hadn't even occurred to Lily that James might hear and object, though. Her only thought had been that it could well start the gossips off again. She did not care much about that – Lily was quite used to people talking about her, and had learnt to zone it out – but for James to think he had the right to interfere was infuriating.

And anyway, it hadn't even been a date. Not really. All they'd done was meet up and have a butterbeer, which any friends might do. Of course, up to now, she hadn't really thought of him as a friend, more of a vaguely friendly acquaintance. She thought she could definitely call him a friend now, though, but it was no different than if she'd had a butterbeer with Rufus, or even Hugo. Scorpius had never made any signs that he was interested in being more than friends. She might almost have felt disappointed by that, except that if he had, she'd had have to stop hanging out with him, because she had told Meri she wasn't going to go out with anyone this year.

But all that was irrelevant, because it didn't _matter_ whether she and Scorpius were friends or something else. It was still none of James's business. Seething, she sat through Defence Against the Dark Arts largely in silence, not listening to most of what went on.

"Are you okay?" Meri asked again, about half way through the lesson. She had just removed the body-binding curse she had cast at her friend, which Lily had entirely failed to perform the counter-jinx for. Lily was often caught off guard in Defence Against the Dark Arts, but she wasn't usually as bad as that.

Lily got to her feet. "Yes. I s'pose."

"You're still angry, aren't you?" Meri sighed. "Look, I know it's annoying, but think about it. He can't _do_ anything."

Lily looked at her friend, and gave her a small smile.

"Yeah, I suppose not. I'm just so sick of him treating me like a baby. Plus, it's only because I'm a girl, and that's just sexist. Nobody bothers about Hugo like this."

"Well, to be fair, Hugo didn't go on a date with a Malfoy," Meri pointed out.

Lily groaned. "Not you as well. Who cares that he's a Malfoy?"

"Well, _I_ don't," Meri replied. "I was only saying. What did James actually say?"

Lily made an angry sound, a little like a cat hissing. "The usual James stuff. Telling me I shouldn't be spending time with Scorpius, and going on about Death Eaters and Slytherins. There _aren't_ even any Death Eaters any more. And he actually told me he 'didn't want to hear I'd been seen with Malfoy again'. I mean, who does he think he is? He's so _full_ of himself!"

Meri raised her eyebrows. "That is kind of annoying," she agreed. "But you don't have to listen to him, you know. In fact," she laughed, "if it was me, I'd do the opposite of what he said, just to annoy him."

Lily looked at her for a moment, then smiled, suddenly looking less angry. "That's not a bad idea," she said slowly. "In fact, I think I've thought of the perfect way to get my own back."


	6. Unexpected Invitation

**A/N: Thanks so much to everyone for the lovely reviews - they make my day, and keep me writing this story!**

**Apologies for the gap between updates - real life has been busy, and is going to get busy again in about a month, so I'll see how much of this one I can get done by then!**

* * *

The days crept on towards Christmas. Drama Club rehearsals became a regular thing for the younger students involved with it. Pádraig, when he was told he had been cast in the lead role, immediately rebelled and said he wouldn't do it. However, in the end the combined forces of Lucy and Artemis were too much for him and he gave in, although he first extracted a promise from Lucy that he would not have to kiss anyone, especially not Eris Montague.

Most other people seemed reasonably happy with their parts, although it was hard to tell with Weylin Nott, who showed no emotion at all when the casting was announced, or afterwards. However, Lucy took it as an encouraging sign that he did not refuse to be Tybalt. Eris Montague was delighted, although she also clearly considered that she fully deserved the part she had been given. For the most part, though, her genuine enjoyment of the whole thing seemed to make her more polite, and as rehearsals progressed, she generally acquiesced to Lucy's instructions with minimal argument. She ignored the presence of Iseult Malfoy entirely.

Issie herself had volunteered to help Tilly with practical tasks, and soon proved so useful that she was promoted to Stage Manager. She quite enjoyed working with Tilly, but she had to admit that she didn't like having to spend so much time in the same room as Eris Montague. She did not mind the other Slytherins, not even Lilith. But Eris had been the first to call her a blood traitor in their first year, and she had also been there, giggling alongside her brother Zeno when he and his friends had cornered Issie in a dark corridor at last year's New Year party. It had, in fact, been Weylin Nott who had saved her on that occasion, and so Issie was prepared to like Weylin, despite what his mother had done to hers, and despite the fact that he barely seemed to talk. But Eris had hissed threats and enjoyed Issie's fear, and Issie wanted nothing to do with her. However, this was Lucy's scheme, and Lucy was her friend. What was more, Jake, and now Alice, were very keen on it all, and Issie didn't want to spoil it by making a fuss. So she said nothing, and spent rehearsal time with Tilly, making plans for sets and costumes.

Titus Hart continued to turn up to rehearsals and make it loudly known that he thought the whole thing stupid and was only there under severe duress, and to do his best to thoroughly distract his friends when they were acting. Weylin proved more or less impervious to this, but Oscar did not, and could barely get through a line without starting to laugh. After enduring two weeks of this, Lucy turned round to Titus and told him furiously that she didn't care why he was there or what he thought of it, but that he could either be quiet or get out. It was not often that Lucy Weasley's temper snapped, and everyone else round the room fell quiet to listen to what was going on. For a moment, Titus looked disconcerted, then he sneered.

"Oh yeah? Who's going to make me?"

Artemis and Pádraig, who had been in the middle of the room rehearsing one of their scenes, both took steps forwards immediately, but it was Weylin who spoke.

"Give it a rest, Titus," he said quietly. "She's right. You don't have to be here if you don't want to. Stop being a dick."

For a moment, Titus gaped at his friend, and the room was silent, braced for some sort of fight. It didn't come. Titus deflated, and turned away with a scowl.

"Fine. Whatever," he muttered. "This is boring as shit anyway. Maybe I won't bother coming next time."

The others still waited, but it seemed that both Titus and Weylin had said all they were going to say, so Lucy turned away from them and cheerfully began to continue the rehearsal. Titus sat quietly for the rest of it. However, there was an air of unease in the room, and Lucy eventually finished slightly early.

"That's what comes of inviting that crowd," Pádraig muttered as they left the classroom, but Lucy told him to shut up.

Afterwards, several people saw Weylin Nott and Titus Hart having what looked like an argument, an extremely rare occurrence. Nobody knew what had been said, but it seemed that Weylin had won, but that they had made their peace. Titus turned up to the next rehearsal and did not disrupt it. Tilly asked him at the end whether he wanted to help her and Issie draw up a list of props, and he merely shrugged ungraciously. Issie looked somewhat dismayed at the idea, but the following week he sat at the same desk as them while the others practised, and somehow, by the start of November, Titus Hart had become some sort of general production assistant.

It was then that Lucy came back from a meeting with Professor Clearwater with the joyful news that they were to be allowed to put on their play on the last day of term, and that they could invite the rest of the school and the staff. The professor was less keen to let them invite parents – or school governors – but Lucy was optimistic about getting her to change her mind before the end of term.

The news was met with mingled excitement and nervousness by the little cast.

"In front of everyone?" Alice asked doubtfully.

"I'm never going to be able to learn all these stupid lines!" Pádraig said with a groan

"What are we going to wear?" Eris demanded.

"Well." Tilly looked at Lucy. "We thought – Issie and me – that maybe we could ask your cousin, Roxy? I've drawn out some ideas, but I can't make clothes, and Roxy can – she's always doing that sort of thing. I know she's a sixth-year, but she wouldn't really be _in_ the club. And I bet she'd help."

Lucy thought about this. "Okay," she conceded in the end. "We can ask her anyway. It'll look a bit stupid if we have to do it in our school robes. And we've got less than two months now, so we have enough to do as it is."

* * *

Not including the small incident with Titus at the rehearsal, there were no more open fights in the school. In fact, there seemed to be more disagreements between people within the same houses than inter-house warring. Pádraig Finnigan and Tansy Kent fell out for a week after she taunted him for being a 'snake-lover' for having to pretend to be in love with a Slytherin, and it took all Lucy's powers of persuasion to stop him quitting the play entirely afterwards. Zeno Montague managed to trip Weylin Nott at the top of a flight of stairs, causing him to fall half way down it, something Zeno claimed was an accident. Titus Hart swore long and loud at him, and might have done more if Farah had not descended on them at that moment. However, it was no secret that Weylin was now an outcast from Zeno's crowd. The surprise came the next day when Eris Montague marched up to her brother and told him to grow up and get over himself. The coolness between brother and sister lasted longer than Weylin's grazed shin and elbow.

Among the older students, it was noticeable that Zeke Lucas went round looking like he'd lost something for a few weeks after Lily broke up with him, and that Sapphie and Albus were once again studiously avoiding each other. Although the fresh news of Lily and Zeke's break-up made more entertaining gossip than the old story of Albus and Sapphie – who had not been together for nearly a year – it did not remain interesting for long. Lily seemed entirely unconcerned by the whole thing, and after those first weeks, even Zeke seemed to bounce back to normal. It was only really their close friends and relatives who noticed that Albus was even more serious than usual, and that Sapphie seemed to be in a bad mood the entire time. Rose Weasley, who was related to one and best friends with the other, was heard to groan about stubborn idiots.

Gryffindor played Hufflepuff and lost, which did not improve Sapphie's mood. Issie, too, was cast down by the loss, even though she had caught the snitch and the rest of the team had assured her that, at that point, there had been nothing else she could have done. They had been losing disastrously, with no real hope of catching up, for their team of Chasers, good as they were, was missing James. What was more, Emilia Brooke had been playing with the flu, because she had refused to admit just how bad she was feeling. In the end it had been a neck-and-neck race between Issie and Ninian Penhallow, the Hufflepuff Seeker, and if she had deliberately missed the opportunity, Ninian certainly would not have, and they would have lost by even more. If anyone was to blame it was Emilia, and even Sapphie didn't have the heart to blame her when she was huddled in the hospital wing with a roaring temperature.

* * *

Lily, despite her words to Meri, did not immediately do anything obvious to pay James back for his interference. In November, however, came her birthday, and James sent her a card, a jar of a new kind of broom polish, and a note containing pointed questions about who she was spending her birthday with. Lily, sitting at the breakfast table, crumpled the note up in exasperation.

Her cousin Hugo, who had come over from the Hufflepuff table to say happy birthday, eyed this with interest.

"What's that about?" he asked, indicating the ball of parchment beside her plate.

"Nothing," Lily replied hastily, reaching for it, and getting there just before him.

Hugo looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"Why? Who's it from?"

"Jamie, if you really have to know." Lily stuffed the parchment into her bag and looked at her cereal instead of her cousin.

"Oh." Hugo was silent for a moment, apparently thinking about this. "What did he say?" he asked her at last.

"Nothing," Lily said again. "Honestly, Hugo, it doesn't matter."

"Was it about Malfoy?"

Now it was Lily's turn to be suspicious and she turned to look at him. "What do you know about that?"

"Only what I heard from Rufus." Hugo looked injured. "Don't act like _I'm_ the one spreading rumours about you. Anyway, I don't need to. Tons of people saw you in the Three Broomsticks with him. People are saying you two are together now." He finished on a note almost like a question, and looked expectantly at her.

"You _were_ spreading rumours about me last year," Lily retorted. "It was you who told James about what people were saying."

"Well, I didn't tell him this time. Anyway…"

"We're not going out," Lily interrupted. "We're friends, that's all. At least, I think we are. There's no need for you to go on about it."

"I wasn't going on about it!" Hugo said indignantly. "I only asked. You don't have to bite my head off."

Lily sighed. "Okay. I'm sorry. You're right - it's not you, it's James. I'm just sick of him."

"So ignore him." Hugo shrugged. "Do what you want to do. Even if it's date Malfoy." He grinned as she flicked a cornflake at him. "_Is_ that what you want to do?"

"No, it isn't." Lily scowled. "Anyway, that isn't what you were saying last year. You were nearly as bad as Jamie about it then."

"Yeah well, that was last year," Hugo said dismissively. "I was young and stupid. I mean, obviously there would be better people for you to get together with. But it's not really anyone else's decision apart from yours, is it? And his, I suppose," he added as an afterthought.

Lily looked at him with both surprise and gratitude. She had not expected such understanding from Hugo.

"Well, thanks, Hugo. But like I say, we're only friends, so there's nothing for James to get uptight about anyway." She grinned at him, the idea that Meri had given her coming into her head again. "Not yet, anyway."

* * *

The following day, Scorpius was heading towards his common room when there was the sound of running footsteps behind him and a breathless voice said, "Hey, Scorpius!"

He stopped and turned to find Lily behind him.

"Oh, hey," he said, slightly surprised. To be sure, there seemed to be a slightly odd sort of friendship growing between them, but he hadn't really expected her to seek him out.

"I managed to pick a time Xanthe Derrick wasn't around this time," she said, laughing as she stopped beside him in the otherwise empty corridor.

Scorpius, remembering last time Lily had gone running after him calling his name, and started all the rumours about them, smiled ruefully.

"Well, I appreciate it. Though if Xanthe wants to talk about us, she'll talk about us, whether she sees us together or not – she'll make it up if she has to."

Lily sighed. "Well, I think it's a bit late to stop that happening, isn't it? Personally I don't really care what Xanthe Derrick thinks or says – do you?"

She looked curiously at him, as if the question carried some weight. Unsure why it should, Scorpius hesitated for a moment.

"No, not really," he said at last. "I mean, I have to admit I'm not a big fan of having everyone talking about me, but I suppose I've got used to it a bit over the last year. They can all piss off, to be honest. I'm not going to let it get to me."

She nodded. "Tell me about it. I suppose I've sort of got used to it too, over the years. I don't even have to do anything to make people talk about me, because of Mum and Dad. People always think we're lucky to have a famous family, but honestly, it sucks sometimes."

Scorpius had to admit that he'd never thought of it that way – he was one of the people, he supposed, who had assumed that the Potters had always had it easy. It looked like that, from the outside – they were popular with everyone, from other kids to their teachers. He'd certainly always assumed that they had it easier than he did, coming from a family so many people eyed with suspicion. But now that she'd mentioned it, he could see how that sort of attention could get exhausting. He had loathed being thrust into the spotlight over the last year, with everyone talking about him, and his family repeatedly in the newspapers. Lily had dealt with that her entire life.

"I s'pose it must," he said genuinely, thinking of all this.

"Anyway," she went on, "that was sort of what I wanted to talk to you about. Well, actually, it wasn't that at all, it was something completely different. But it's kind of related, because of people talking about us and stuff."

He frowned, trying and failing to follow what she was talking about.

"What d'you mean? _Are_ people talking about us again?"

It was a decidedly awkward topic, Scorpius felt, to stand and discuss rumours that they were going out when they weren't. Lily, however, did not seem particularly embarrassed. He thought she hesitated for a moment, but then she smiled brightly.

"Oh, not really, I don't think," she said. "I mean, some people, maybe. Nobody that matters. But see, the thing I wanted to ask you is, you know the Yule Ball at the end of term? I wondered if you wanted to go. Just as friends, I mean. Only if you haven't got someone else to go with, obviously."

He blinked. She delivered the invitation so calmly and casually that it took a moment for him to realise what she had asked. It was definitely unexpected, and he didn't immediately have an answer either. Go to the Yule Ball with her? His brain moved rapidly, trying to catch up. Just as friends, she said, and yes, that was all they were, and people _did_ go to balls and parties together as friends, so there was nothing exactly wrong with that. And the idea wasn't unappealing; he enjoyed spending time with her, and certainly had nobody else he had been planning to ask.

But could he take all the assumptions there were bound to be about them?

When he didn't reply immediately, Lily went on, speaking a little faster than she had been, and not sounding quite as cool and collected.

"Of course, that's what I meant about it being related to people talking about us. Because I suppose they would, if we did that. I don't really care, but I'll understand if you do, or if you just don't want to or anything. I only wondered, because honestly, I'd rather go with a friend than have a real date, you know?"

He was amused – and not at all put out, he told himself – that she didn't consider him a 'real date'. In many ways, though, it would be a relief. He could relax in the knowledge that they were just friends, that there were no expectations, and he might even enjoy the evening, something he hadn't been expecting to do.

"Yeah, okay," he said slowly. "Okay – that sounds cool."

Her face brightened. "Really?"

"Yeah, really." He smiled at her, and found that he meant it. "I'd rather go with a friend too. People are _definitely_ going to talk, though," he added with a small laugh. Still, hadn't he decided that he wasn't going to let the gossip dictate his life choices?

"Let them," she said with a scowl. "It's none of anyone's business."

"True," he said lightly. "Though some people might decide to make it their business. Still, I expect we'll live."

Her scowl turned back into a smile. "I expect so. I'm glad you said yes – it'll be fun."

As he watched her disappear up the corridor, Scorpius, thinking about what he had just agreed to, felt suddenly immensely glad that James Potter was no longer at school.

* * *

Meri's main emotion, as she listened to her friend's garbled story, was amusement. Even though Meri had been the one to advise her not to listen to James, she had not expected this. But you never did know what Lily might do.

"What happened to going with all us girls?" she asked. She did not actually mind, because she was not surprised – she would have been much more surprised if Lily had _not_ had a date for the ball.

Lily looked guilty. "I'm sorry, Mer. You don't mind, do you?"

"Course not." Meri shook her head. "I knew you'd end up going with someone. I just hope you know what you're doing."

"It's not an actual _date_," Lily went on. "We're only friends. So I'm still sticking to what I said about not having a boyfriend this year. And it serves James right," she added smugly.

"Did you tell Scorpius you only asked him to piss James off?"

"No," Lily replied. "Of course not – that would be a bit rude. Anyway, that's not the _only_ reason I asked him. I really would rather go with him than with someone who wants it to be all romantic. I like him."

"Like him in what way?" Meri asked. "I mean, _do_ you actually fancy him, Lil?" It was something she'd been wondering for a while. Not that she wanted to believe the gossip, but she didn't quite know what to make of Lily's behaviour around Scorpius Malfoy. She didn't flirt with him exactly, but she didn't treat him in the brotherly way she treated, say, Rufus Magorian, who she'd been friends with for years. The whole friendship seemed odd to Meri.

"Everyone keeps asking me that," Lily replied, somewhat crossly. "No, I don't. I mean I like him as a person, that's all. I told you, I don't want a boyfriend."

Meri looked carefully at her friend. Lily was a hopeless liar, and she didn't sound like she was lying now. But Meri was still unsure; there was a note in Lily's voice that sounded a tiny bit uncertain.

"Would you tell me if you did?" she asked curiously.

"Course I would!" This time Lily answered immediately, as if any other option would be ridiculous. "Honestly, Mer, it's not like that. I mean, I don't really know what I feel about him to be honest. I suppose he's kind of good-looking, so maybe I fancy him a tiny bit. But I don't want to go out with him – I like just being friends."

There was more of a ring of truth in her tone at that, and Meri nodded slowly. She still did not entirely understand, but she believed her friend. A tiny bit of guilt crept in, however, at Lily's insistence that of course she would tell Meri if she fancied someone. Meri herself had never told Lily how much she liked Zeke Lucas. That was different, though, she told herself. Lily and Zeke had been a couple – Meri couldn't go telling her best friend she fancied her ex-boyfriend.

"So if he asked you out – properly, I mean – would you say no?" she asked instead.

Lily shrugged. "I don't know. Probably. But it doesn't matter, because he isn't going to. He's not interested in me like that."


	7. Arguments

**A/N: Apologies (again!) for your long, long wait. I've been in Italy all summer, working, and barely writing at all. And this chapter took forever. However, here it is at last, and I hope there are still some people who want to read it! Should hopefully be back to regular updates from now on.**

* * *

Issie sat cross-legged on a desk as she helped Tilly measure people for costumes. It was Tilly who was doing most of the actual measuring, having been shown how by Roxanne Weasley, but Issie enjoyed being there anyway, noting down the numbers Tilly threw over her shoulder next to the correct name. Tilly liked lists and neat records, and insisted on her assistants keeping them too.

It had surprised and disconcerted Issie just how big a part of life the play had become. It was as important as Quidditch, and took even more work. And somehow Lucy and Tilly's enthusiasm must have rubbed off on everyone, because it seemed as if almost everyone involved was just as excited, even people who had been unsure in the beginning.

As the term wore on, and the performance date Professor Clearwater had promised them grew closer, Issie, Tilly and Titus had more and more to do. Props had involved some quite difficult Transfiguration, which had been a challenge since it was beyond anything Issie had done in lessons so far. However, Tilly and Titus, both a year ahead of her, had helped her, and as a result her Transfiguration marks had become some of the best in her class.

She, Tilly and Titus had in fact become a team, and Titus had surprised her by turning from aggressive and mean to being someone who greeted her with a cheerful 'All right, Malfoy?' every time he saw her – even in the corridors or the Great Hall – and with whom she had vehement debates about Quidditch.

"63.5!" Tilly called, and Issie made a note on her parchment. "Okay, you're done," Tilly went on to Mark Keenan, her fellow third-year Ravenclaw.

At that moment, a shout came from the adjoining classroom. "Hey, Till, come here a second!" It was Lucy, and Tilly hesitated.

"Can you carry on here for a minute, while I see what she wants?" she asked.

Issie also hesitated.

"You've watched me, so you know what to do, right?" Tilly went on. "Just take the measurements and write them down, like you've been doing. I'll be back in a minute."

Issie nodded dubiously. She had indeed been watching Tilly, but she hoped she would not do it wrong. However, the older girl was already heading towards the door, so Issie picked up the tape measure. Tilly was right – it should be easy.

Then her heart sank. The person coming in to be measured next was Eris Montague.

Issie, unlike some her housemates, did not dislike Slytherins just for being Slytherins. How could she, when her whole family, whom she adored, were Slytherins? She had no great problem with Lilith Avery, apart from her being Eris Montague's best friend. Oscar Selwyn seemed like a perfectly nice person, and Titus was surprisingly okay now. Even Weylin Nott. Whatever she thought of his family – and she hated Mr and Mrs Nott with a passion for what they had done to her mum – Weylin had saved her last year. He barely talked at rehearsals, apart from his lines, and the knowledge of what had happened with their families hung between them as something of a shadow, but he was certainly not all bad.

Eris Montague, though, was different. Issie couldn't deny it – she hated the fact that Eris had the main part in the play. She hated how important Eris obviously thought it made her, and she hated that they had to spend so much time in the same room. Not that Eris had said anything bad since she had joined the drama group. She could not; Lucy wouldn't let her stay if she did. But she had not said anything nice either, and Issie could not just forget the things that had been said and done the previous year. Eris had called her a blood traitor, and that was the sort of language that the Death Eaters had liked to use. It was the sort of thing that could not be forgiven.

"Where's Tilly gone?" Eris demanded.

"She went to talk to Lucy," Issie replied quietly, not looking at Eris but pretending to be busy with her parchment.

Eris sighed impatiently. "Do I have to wait until she gets back?"

Issie bit her lip. She could say yes, and wait for Tilly. But she was annoyed at the rude way Eris was talking to her. It was the way she had talked to Lucy at the beginning, but she was much more polite now. Except not to Issie, apparently.

"No, I can measure you," she said.

Eris let out a small sound that might have been a noise of scorn or might have been a laugh, but she did not object. Issie refused to look her in the face as she unrolled the tape measure and set to work. She would take Eris's measurements, but she would not let her think all was forgiven. Not that she thought Eris wanted her forgiveness. She probably still thought Issie was a blood traitor.

For a few moments, there was silence.

"You really hate me, don't you?" Eris said at last, sounding amused.

Issie tensed. "What am I supposed to do, like you?" she asked, after a pause. "Can you hold your hair out of the way?" She was here to do a job, that was all. She wasn't going to let Eris Montague get to her again.

Eris scooped up her long dark hair, as instructed, but continued: "What, just because I called you a name once?"

Issie felt her blood start to boil. "You didn't call me a name _once. _You called me it a whole bunch of times. And then there was New Year…" She broke off. She did not want to remember last New Year.

Eris scoffed. "Oh, get over it, Malfoy. Anyway, you had your revenge, didn't you?"

"What?" Issie was so startled by this that she looked up properly at Eris for the first time, the hand that held the measuring tape dropping. "What's that meant to mean?"

"Got Weylin's parents thrown in prison and the League smashed up, didn't you?" Eris stared challengingly at her. She was no longer holding her hair, but standing with her arms crossed over her chest.

Issie crossed her own arms and faced Eris. She no longer cared about ignoring Eris, or about avoiding a fight for the sake of the show.

"That wasn't _me_," she said furiously. "How could it have been me? They're in prison because of what _they_ did, and the League attacked a whole village of Muggles! Anyway, none of that's go anything to do with you."

"You helped, though." Eris still sounded calm, although her eyes were glinting. "Don't lie and say you didn't – you helped get your mum off, and Weylin's mum arrested. Didn't you?"

Issie hesitated. She could not say that that was not true because it _was_ – though she didn't know how Eris knew. But what she had said was true too. It was not her fault. And even if it had been, Mrs Nott deserved it.

"Yeah, I thought so." Eris ploughed on. "Typical Malfoys. In it up to your ears until it all turns bad, then you drop everyone else in the shit and run. Nice one. Don't know how you ended up in Gryffindor."

Outrage and confusion made it hard for Issie to speak for a moment.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said at last. "My family didn't _do_ anything. And neither did yours. Why would you even care? Nobody's arrested your family. Nobody's saying anything to _you_."

"Not in here, maybe. You should read the paper though. There's plenty in there about how the League was just a front for the new Death Eaters or something. Which is bullshit, by the way. My parents didn't even know what was going on; it was only a few people. But now everyone's watching them again. Nobody trusts us, Issie, or hadn't you noticed that? We can fight between ourselves all we want, but the rest of them just look at us and see Death Eater families. Your family too, even if you pretend to be better than the rest of us. Which is why we're _supposed_ to stick together."

Issie stared at her. She wasn't entirely sure what was going any more – how they had got from Eris calling her names last year, to this.

"Look, I didn't do all that," she said. "I didn't make it happen. But I'm glad it did. I'm glad the League's over – it sounds horrible! Maybe your parents shouldn't have joined, if they're not into that stuff. I don't want to _stick together_ with people like the League, _or_ people who call other people blood traitors!"

Eris's jaw clenched. "So that's it then. You just get to turn your back and walk away, because… what? You're a _Malfoy_ and that's what you always do? Your dad was a Death Eater! Not a supporter – an actual Death Eater! So how come he didn't end up in prison? Your family was part of it all more than anyone, so how come you get to judge the rest of us now? Are you going to join up with the people who think we're all evil? All Purebloods and all Slytherins? Because you know that's bullshit! That's what you come from too, and if you just drop it all and walk away with your lovely new friends, you're not a blood traitor – you're just a straight up traitor!"

Issie took a step backward. She was no longer interested in taking Eris's measurements. She just wanted to get away from all the horrible, accusing words. She didn't understand. She had not _done_ anything other than get sorted into Gryffindor. Why did that make Eris so angry? It was Eris who had hated her first, but why? Why did she just want to hurt Issie?

"That's right," Eris spat, as Issie backed away. "Run off back to your Gryffindor friends. Really _brave_."

"Stop it" Issie burst out. "I've never done a single thing to you, so just… just stop it!"

She turned and stumbled away.

From behind her, Tilly's voice said: "Issie? Are you okay?"

She did not look back. That was it. She'd tried, and this was what happened. She was not going anywhere near Eris Montague ever again.

* * *

It was horrible, Meri thought guiltily as she made her way from the owlery to the common room, after posting a letter to her parents, but she was quite pleased that Lily had Quidditch practise just now. That was awful. She and Lily had been best friends since first year, and there had never been anyone Meri would rather hang around with. So why was Lily now getting on her nerves?

It had a lot to do, the rational voice whispered in her head, with the fact that Lily had now been asked to the Yule Ball by two different guys – and was actually going with a third, Scorpius Malfoy, whom Lily had asked herself. Meri did not have a date and saw no obvious prospect of getting one, and as usual, it had not even occurred to Lily that Meri might mind this. She had only been concerned that Meri might be upset that they would not be able to go together, with all their friends, and once Meri had reassured her about that, Lily had obviously never thought about it again. The thing was, Lily was so careless about dates. She didn't care whether she had one or not most of the time, and only went on them because she didn't see any point in saying no. So it never crossed her mind that other people might not feel the same way, and her obliviousness was getting irritating.

Meri didn't care all that much about dates either, and most of the time she didn't even mind that Lily was so much more popular with boys than she was. But it would have been nice to have been asked on one, just once.

She rounded the corner nearest the Gryffindor common room, and a voice said: "Hey, Meri!"

Meri blinked. It was Zeke Lucas, and she wasn't sure when she'd last talked to him, except for the odd brief exchange while he was going out with Lily – and then Lily had always been there too, and Meri had always made an excuse and hurried off as quickly as possible. There had been a time when she and Zeke had been friends. She had known him since they were tiny, because their fathers were friends, and they'd played together before Hogwarts. Once they were both at school, with Zeke two years ahead, they hadn't spent much time together, except the odd occasion during the holidays. Then in Meri's third year, Zeke had suddenly started seeking her out again, and she had even dared to hope (fantasise, more like, she told herself) that they might become more than friends.

Of course, it hadn't been her he was interested in; it had been Lily, and Meri had folded that fantasy up neatly and put it away.

"Hey, Zeke," she mumbled, wishing she was as good at talking to people as Lily. Lily never got wrong-footed by people.

He stopped and looked as if he was going to say more, and then didn't. They stood awkwardly in the corridor, looking at each other.

"How are you doing? I mean – we never really talk any more," he said in a rush, after an overlong pause.

"No," she agreed. The reasons for that were obvious, and she didn't see why he felt the need to comment on it. "I'm good," she added, for lack of anything else to say. "How about you?"

"Yeah, good." He nodded and shoved his hands into his pockets with a not-very-convincing show of nonchalance. "How's Lily?"

_And there you go_, Meri thought sourly. "She's fine," she answered however, which was more truthful than her own answer. "At Quidditch practise just now. Look, I should probably get on – I've got Charms homework to do…"

"Yeah. Are you going back to the common room? I'll come with you."

Meri blinked. Going by the fact that she had been heading towards the common room herself, and had met him coming in the opposite direction, she had assumed he'd just come from there. What was he playing at? Was he that desperate to talk about Lily? However, short of being very rude, she couldn't not walk with him, so they strolled together back towards the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"You know, things with me and Lily just sort of…" He broke off and waved a hand vaguely. "You know. We didn't fight or anything. She said she didn't want a relationship right now, and broke up with me."

"Yes, I know." Meri stared at him. Did he think she didn't know how things had ended with him and Lily? And why did he care whether she knew or not.

"Right. Yeah." He gave a slightly forced laugh. "Course you do. I just thought… Well, you're being a bit off with me, and I thought maybe you were pissed off with me. I mean, she's your best friend. But it wasn't…" He trailed off and looked hopefully at her.

"It wasn't your fault. I know." Meri sighed. "I'm not pissed off with you." It was a lie, sort of. She wasn't pissed off with him because he and Lily had broken up – she was, however, annoyed that he had thought it was okay to use her to get close to her friend then ignore her as soon as he'd achieved it. She hoped he wasn't trying to do the same thing again, but it looked suspiciously like it.

"Oh. Okay, well, that's good." He didn't look entirely convinced by her words, but went on: "I mean, I'm okay with it. Not saying I _wanted_ to break up, but I never thought it'd last forever, you know? She never really wanted to only go out with one person, so I knew she'd ditch me for good eventually."

"Look, Zeke." Meri paused outside the portrait hole. She didn't think she could take any more of this. It was bad enough knowing that Zeke would never like her, without discussing his relationship with Lily. "I don't know what you're getting at or why you're talking to me about this. I'm not going to help you get back with her, and hanging around us pretending you want to talk to _me_ isn't going to work this time." _Not on Lily or on me._

Meri took a slightly shaky breath. She hated being mean to people. Not that she was being mean; she was only telling him facts. But he was staring at her in dismay, and she felt terrible. But she was _not_ going to let him use her again.

"I wasn't…" he began at last, after a long pause, then immediately broke off again and appeared lost for words. "I mean, that's not… I'm not _pretending_ I want to talk to you. I never have. If I want to talk to Lily, I'll go and talk to her…"

"I wouldn't bother," Meri said harshly, annoyed by the blatantly untrue '_I never have_'. Was he just lying to her, or was he lying to himself as well? "I'm pretty sure it's over for good this time, Zeke. She's not interested – she told me. And she's going to the Yule Ball with Scorpius Malfoy."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she realised that Lily had not given her permission to tell anyone, and guilt smote her. She wasn't sure how much of a secret it was – after all, going to the Yule Ball together was a pretty public thing – but as far as she knew, Lily hadn't told anyone but her yet. However annoyed Meri was with her friend, she shouldn't have told Zeke, of all people.

For a few moments after her announcement, he stared at her with his mouth open. Then he pulled himself together.

"She's going to the Yule Ball with Malfoy? Seriously?"

"Yes, but I shouldn't have told you that. I'm sorry. Don't tell anyone, will you?" she asked anxiously.

He blinked at her. "No, I won't," he said slowly. "But Meri…"

"Look, I just remembered – I have to get a book from the library," Meri said hurriedly. She wanted nothing more than for this conversation to be over – and preferably never to have happened, but that unfortunately wasn't possible. "I'm sorry, Zeke – I didn't mean to… Well, I'm sorry, okay?" She was hurrying away from him, throwing the last words over her shoulder. She wasn't entirely sure what she was apologising for, and judging by the confusion on his face, he wasn't sure either. But she knew she'd just made a mess of everything, and wondered, as she scurried down the corridor, whether she ought to tell Lily what she'd done.

Zeke gazed after Meri for a few moments, a puzzled frown on his face. Then he shook his head, turned, and went in through the portrait hole.

As soon as he'd gone, a breath of relief came from a nearby alcove window, and a long-legged boy with curly red-brown hair slipped off the windowsill and stood in the corridor for a moment, looking decidedly startled.

Hugo Weasley had come up to the Gryffindor common room in search of his friend Rufus, and when the Fat Lady had refused to let him in, he had hung around in the corridor waiting for someone who could help him – either by letting him in, or taking a message to Rufus inside. Eventually, when nobody had come along for a while, he had rested on the windowsill, set into an alcove in the deep wall.

When he had heard voices, he had been on the point of emerging when he had caught Lily's name. Curious, he had stopped and listened, and quickly realised, with increasing dismay, that it was a conversation he definitely shouldn't be hearing. By that time, though, it had been too late – if he had come out, they would have realised that he had been listening. So he had scrunched up as small as he could – which was not very small, as he had started growing at what his mother called an alarming rate in the last year – and hoped they would not notice him.

They hadn't noticed him, which he was very glad of, given what he had just overheard.

Hugo stared again at the Fat Lady, who stared haughtily back, but he was no longer thinking about getting into the common room or finding Rufus. Instead he was reeling with the two startling pieces of information that had come from the conversation between Meri and Zeke.

The first was the news that Lily was going to the Yule Ball with _Scorpius_ _Malfoy_. After the first shock of this, Hugo was starting to feel slightly indignant. First she told him that she wasn't interested in dating Malfoy, then she went to a ball with the guy. Had she been lying to him? You could usually tell when Lily was lying. But there had been something… well, a bit _off_ with her that morning. He had teased her about it, never thinking it might actually be true. _Could_ it be true? No, surely not. But then, why would she go to Hogsmeade and then to the Yule Ball with Malfoy? _Two_ things that looked very like dates had to mean something, didn't it?

The second realisation he had made was, if anything, more disturbing. It might not have been obvious to Zeke, but it was obvious to just about anyone with a brain watching and listening to that interaction, Hugo thought, that Meri fancied Zeke Lucas. Hugo liked Meri, and the unhappiness he had heard in her voice as she rushed off to the library worried him.

The worst part was that it was Hugo who had pushed Lily and Zeke together. Believing he was helping along his cousin's love life, he had encouraged Zeke by singing Lily's praises on every possible occasion, and had even persuaded him to risk asking her out. Until now, he hadn't thought his efforts had gone _too _badly. Of course, they hadn't worked out – Hugo had thought for a while that they might fix things and get back together again, but that was looking less and less likely – but they _might_ have worked out, and no real harm had seemed to have been done.

But now maybe it had. Maybe, if he had not interfered, Zeke would have gone for Meri instead of Lily. Lily, Hugo had to admit, would probably not have cared much either way. And, much as he loved his cousin, he couldn't help the sneaking suspicion that Meri would have been a far better person for Zeke to get together with in the long run. For one thing, judging by what he was now sure of, she'd have been way more into the whole thing. For another, she was just better at commitment in general. That was hindsight, though. He couldn't possibly have known that at the time, could he?

He had wrecked things for Meri completely unnecessarily, though, and now _nobody_ was happy. Not even Lily, really. If she did like Malfoy, then everything was in a muddle. And if she didn't, well she was now single, wasn't she? Hugo had never actually had a girlfriend and didn't even specially want one, but he was sure that being in a happy relationship must be preferable to being alone.

He could see no immediate way to fix any of this, but as he had more than half caused it, he was going to have to try.

At that moment the portrait hole swung open again. Hugo tensed, hoping it was not Zeke re-emerging, but it was not; it was his cousin, Albus.

"Oh, hey, Hugo." Albus sounded slightly surprised. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Well, sort of." Hugo wasn't sure whether to feel dismayed or relieved at Al's appearance. On one hand, Albus was sane and sensible and generally knew what to do about things. On the other hand he was also Lily's brother, and Hugo wasn't sure whether it was okay to tell Al what he had just heard.

Albus looked puzzled. "What's the matter? What are you even doing here?"

"Nothing. I mean…" Hugo hesitated. "Look, Al, swear not to tell anyone?"

His cousin's puzzlement only deepened.

"Tell anyone _what_? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Lily's going to the Yule Ball with Scorpius Malfoy!" Hugo burst out in the end.

Albus stared at him, initial shock giving way to an expression of something between resignation and amusement.

"Seriously? Did she tell you? And did you come all the way up here just to tell me that?"

"No!" said Hugo indignantly. "I wasn't even looking for you, you just appeared. And it wasn't her who told me. Actually, nobody really told me, but I overheard Meri saying it. I wasn't going to tell you, only I don't know what to do…"

"Nothing," Albus broke in. "You're not going to do anything. Seriously, Hugo – it's none of your business."

"Well, no, I s'pose not," Hugo agreed. "Although it sort of is – I mean, she's your sister and my cousin, so we're allowed to be _interested_, right?"

Albus looked suspiciously at him. "Well yeah, I suppose so, if you really haven't got anything better to think about. But that still doesn't give you the right to stick your nose in. Anyway, it's only the Yule Ball. I honestly don't see why it's such a big deal to you and James who Lily goes to a stupid dance with."

The mention of James reminded Hugo again of the conversation he had had with Lily on her birthday.

"What I don't get is that she literally told me she didn't like him like that a few weeks ago." He frowned. "She said they were only friends."

Albus shrugged. "Well, maybe they are. Some people are going to the ball with their friends."

Hugo was still frowning, however. He had suddenly remembered the last thing Lily had said to him in the conversation. _"There's nothing for James to get uptight about anyway,"_ she had said. _"Not yet anyway."_ And she had been grinning when she said it, as if she had a plan. What had she meant by that? Hugo's brain was clicking into place. Lily had been angry with James. She had been planning something to annoy him in return. She did not (apparently, but Hugo had his own suspicions about that) fancy Scorpius Malfoy, but she was going to the Yule Ball with him anyway, something that would be sure to make James furious if he heard about it. Her motives were suddenly very obvious, although he'd never have imagined that Lily could be so devious.

"Honestly, Hugo," Albus was saying. "You need to leave Lily to sort her own life out – and so does James. It's not like there's anything wrong with her – as far as I can tell, she's completely fine and happy. So just forget about it. Hugo, are you even listening?"

"What? Yeah, yeah, I'm listening." Hugo nodded vigorously, although in fact his mind was racing on. Albus was right in some ways, but wrong in others. Because he didn't know that Hugo had already interfered with Lily's life, last year when he had practically set her up with Lucas. He had messed that up – and somewhere in all this current tangle, he was sure there was the way to put it right, and maybe make things up to Meri too. He just wasn't sure what that way was yet.

"D'you think Lily _does_ like Malfoy?" he asked abruptly.

Albus stared at him in exasperation.

"I have no idea – and I'm not going to try and work it out, because like I literally just said, it's _none of our business._"

"Would it bother you if she did?" Hugo pushed on.

At this, Albus hesitated very slightly. Then he folded his arms across his chest. "I'm not even going to comment on that. It doesn't matter whether it would bother me personally or not – or any of us."

Hugo nodded. "That's what I said to her too, basically," he said. "Thanks, Al," he added, moving away from his cousin. "I think I've got it now!" He had the beginnings of an idea growing in his mind – he just needed to go away and work on it.

"Got what? Hugo!"

Albus's voice came from behind him, but Hugo ignored it. He couldn't tell Al this plan – he definitely wouldn't approve of it.

"Hugo, I'm telling you!" Albus called warningly. "Don't you dare interfere!"

* * *

Lucy and Tilly had held a crisis meeting, but had not been able to come up with a solution. Issie had declared that she would not help with the drama club any more if Eris Montague was in it, and she was refusing to budge from that position. Lucy had tried pleading, she had tried cajoling, she had even tried guilt-tripping. Issie was stubborn.

"What were they even fighting _about_?" she had asked Tilly, but Tilly did not know and neither Eris nor Issie would say.

Even Alice claimed not to know, and said that Issie wouldn't talk to her about it. Alice was upset, and so was Jake. They both had speaking parts – Jake quite a large one – but Issie was their best friend, and Lucy was not sure that they were not going to leave too, in solidarity.

Lucy had tried talking to Eris, but Eris had just shrugged.

"Don't ask me," she had said, with something of a return to the rudeness of tone she had used at the beginning. "I'm not the one overreacting about it. If she wants to drop out, let her."

Lucy did not like Eris's attitude, and she was worried about what Eris might have said to Issie. But she also didn't seem to have much choice except to do exactly what Eris suggested. She could not force Issie to be part of it.

"It's my fault," she said miserably to Tilly. "Max said I shouldn't have Eris in it because of what she did to Issie last year, but I wouldn't listen. Issie's supposed to be my friend, and look what I've done to her. And the whole show's falling apart – if Jake and Alice drop out, we don't _have_ a show!"

"It's not your fault," Tilly said reassuringly. "You couldn't know what was going to happen. And it was working until the other day! I don't know if Issie's really overreacting or if Eris actually did say something awful to her. But you didn't make them fight – they did that themselves! The question is, what are we going to do about it?"

They had asked themselves and each other that question several times already. Now, finally, Lucy had the beginnings of an idea.

"I know someone we could ask," she said slowly. "Someone who would help, if they can. I didn't want to ask for help – I wanted to do it all ourselves. But I can't let Issie be hurt. So I'm going to do it. I'm going to ask Farah for help."


	8. Other People's Dating Habits

The bell rang, and Miss Atkinson's Year Thirteen Geography class began packing their things away and pushing their chairs in. One member of it, a slim girl with light brown hair loosely tied up in a bun, quickly pushed her book into her bag before her teacher could see how little work she'd managed to do over the course of the hour. She had barely concentrated for the whole lesson.

The stupid thing was that she _wanted_ to be able to concentrate on Geography, and on all her other work, and on exams in January, and Christmas coming up, and her friend Matt's eighteenth birthday party next week, and all the normal things in her life. Only really, normal was the last thing her life was any more.

"You need to tell him," a voice said conversationally by her elbow, and she jumped. It was only Anna, who had been there all lesson, but she had not been paying attention to her friend for the last hour either.

The two girls made for the door.

"I'm serious," Anna went on. "It's obviously really bothering you, and you're stuck until you've told him. He's your best friend - even if he's annoyed, he's not going to turn around and hate you forever. He'll forgive you. And you need to be able to stop beating yourself up."

Anna was right. Of course she was right. But there were large parts of the story she did not know, and which made it all far more complicated.

"I know," she said at last. "I'm going to."

"When?"

Hazel Kitson took a deep breath.

"Today. I'm going to tell him today."

* * *

Scorpius had found a secluded spot out by the lake where he was relatively certain nobody would find him. It was cold at the beginning of December, and he wouldn't have chosen to sit out here, but he needed not to be overheard. It was not quite as risky as it had been last year, for his best friend was now officially bound by the Statute of Secrecy, and her knowledge of the wizarding world was all legal and above board. He could not quite believe, though, that he was really going to face no more recriminations for it all. Furthermore, although the Ministry knew that he had broken the Statute, his teachers did not know that he had successfully (after many failed attempts) enchanted a Muggle mobile phone to work on magic, instead of electricity and whatever else they normally worked on. He was not sure whether what he had done was technically against the rules, but he suspected so – there were fairly strict laws on enchanting Muggle objects.

So he had chosen the best place he could for secret conversations. Although he did not know what this particular conversation was going to be about – Hazel had texted him telling him she needed to talk to him, which had alarmed him slightly. Last time she had tried to get hold of him urgently had been when his mother had been arrested. When the phone finally rang – he had texted back telling her a time she could safely call – he answered it with trepidation.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Scorp."

He was always struck by how odd voices sounded on the phone – dim and far away somehow. And the wind was stopping him hearing properly, so he blocked up his other ear with a hand.

"Hazel. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. How about you?"

There was a note in her voice that suggested she was not completely fine, but at least it did not seem to be anything terribly urgent, and Scorpius relaxed slightly.

"I'm good," he answered, deliberating on how much to tell her. She already knew about the squabbling and fighting going on within and between the houses, and if he told her that he had a date to the Yule Ball with Lily Potter, she'd have a field day with it, he thought with resigned amusement. He supposed he'd probably tell her eventually, but maybe not just now.

"What did you want to talk about?" he went on instead. "You don't usually call."

"No, well." There was a reluctant tone to her voice, as if what she had to tell him was difficult to say. "I just. I wasn't even going to say anything. But it's kind of been getting to me that I never told you, and I was talking to Anna and she said I should…"

"Wait, tell me what?" Scorpius broke in, confused. Some of his alarm was returning – it sounded as if whatever it was might be something he wouldn't enjoy hearing.

There was a silence at the other end of the phone.

"Hazel?"

"Listen, Scorp," she said almost desperately. "I just don't want you to think this is a bigger deal than it is, that's all. Promise me you won't freak out?"

"I'm not promising anything until you tell me what the matter is," he said with a firmness he was far from feeling.

"Oh God," she said miserably at the other end of the phone. "Well, look. Remember back at the start of the summer, when I met up with James Potter?"

"Yes," Scorpius answered, feeling a sudden sinking feeling that was always his response when James Potter got involved in anything. It was even worse when it was connected with Hazel. "You said you just went to talk about what had happened," he went on. And he had understood that. Potter and Hazel had almost died in the attack last year; they much have spent a good hour or so shut up under the avalanche not knowing whether they were going to get out or not, and that was something you couldn't really go through with someone and then walk away and never even think about them again. He hadn't liked it, but he had understood, and had tried not to say anything that would show much he hadn't liked it – although Hazel knew him too well to have been fooled, of course. Now, though, he was getting a very bad feeling about it.

"Yeah, well I did. We did. Talk, I mean. And-" He heard Hazel take a deep breath. "And then we met up a few other times over the summer."

There was a silence. Scorpius felt something hollow open up in his stomach. This was not how things were supposed to go. Hazel had always been the one person he could rely on.

"Over the summer? And this is the first time I'm hearing about it? We literally saw each other every few days in the summer. How would you not think that was something I'd want to know?" He could hear the harsh tone in his own voice and part of him hated that, but the other part was feeling a huge rush of cold betrayal. "So what are you trying to tell me? You and James Potter are friends now? Or more than friends?" Everyone knew what Potter was like with girls. Scorpius had never seen Hazel as any more than a friend, his feelings about her closer to his feelings about Issie than anything else, but she was pretty, and there was no way Potter wouldn't have noticed that.

"No, we're not… not anything," she said in a small voice. "We met up because he wanted to – well, I wanted to as well. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you – I know I should have done. I knew it all the time, but I just told myself it wasn't a big deal. You knew about the first time, and it wasn't as like we did anything except get coffee and talk. But it was shitty of me, and I know that. That's why I'm telling you now, even though it's all over."

The hollow feeling had spread, and he didn't want to hear any more of this – but at the same time, he had to know now.

"What d'you mean, it's all over? _What's_ all over? You're not meeting up for cosy chats over coffee any more? Why not?" _Did he say something? Did you realise what he's really like when he's not playing the charming Gryffindor prince?_ He couldn't bring himself to say those things. It sounded too bitter; too petty.

"Well, if you really want to know… we kissed," Hazel said in a rush, then hurried on before Scorpius could gather enough breath to respond to that shock. "And it wasn't like… It just _happened_, out of the blue, I can't explain it. And then he asked me out. Properly, I mean. But I said no. I sort of freaked out a bit actually, because I realised what I'd been doing, and I remembered the way he's treated you and everything. So I said I didn't want to see him anymore, and I haven't. Scorp? Are you still there?"

It took Scorpius a moment to answer, and then he only managed to say, "Yeah, I'm here."

It wasn't so much the fact that it had happened; everyone, he supposed, made mistakes, although James Potter was quite a big mistake to make. It was the fact that it had happened in the _summer_, and she was only just telling him now. That suggested to him that it was more than a simple, easily-forgotten error of judgement.

"Scorpius?" Her voice came thinly, almost pleading. "Are you angry?"

He couldn't answer that honestly with what she wanted to hear. He _was _angry and he couldn't deny it. But he was also shocked, and struggling to collect his feelings into any coherent thoughts at all.

"I just… well, it's… _Why_?" he got out at last.

"Why… did I carry on seeing him? I don't know, Scorp. At first it just seemed like the right thing to do, when he wanted to. It just seemed a bit, I don't know, rude to keep saying no. And then I suppose… he made me curious. Because he didn't seem like I'd imagined him, not really. I should have just left it alone, I know that, Scorp. I'm sorry, I honestly am."

She couldn't leave things alone though, could she? He already knew that about her. If she'd found a mystery, a bit of a puzzle about someone, she'd have had to try and work it out. Hazel had always been like that. He could understand how it happened, if he tried. He wasn't sure he wanted to though – and he definitely wasn't sure he wanted to examine what had led her from that to _kissing_ Potter.

"Couldn't you just have trusted me about what he was like?" he asked.

There was a small pause.

"I don't know," she said again. "I mean, I _did_ trust you. I thought I knew what he was like, only then he wasn't like that."

"Oh, come on!" Scorpius broke in. "Of course he wasn't – you're a girl, and he was trying to impress you. Anyone can seem nice for a while, when they're trying to get into someone's pants!"

"It wasn't like that!" Hazel answered, sounding a little annoyed herself for the first time. "He never once tried to _get into my pants_, if you really have to know. And all I'm saying is you've only got one point of view, haven't you? You've never liked him and he's never liked you, and I've always trusted you that that's because he's a dick. But of course you're going to think he's a dick if all the two of you do is fight…"

"Hazel," Scorpius interrupted again, "I've known him for six years, and every time he's seen me he's tried to pick some sort of fight. Don't stand there and defend him just because you saw the side he turns on when he's trying to make people like him!"

"How do you _know_ that's what he was doing?" she countered hotly. "Everyone's got more than one side to them. Don't tell me you always act the same with everyone, whether they're your friend or someone you hate! Anyway, I'm not even trying to defend him. I know he's been horrible to you." Her voice changed and her tone became gentler. "I'm not defending him from that. Even he didn't defend himself from that."

"Wait, you _talked_ to him about it? About me?" That thought sliced through him, white hot with shame and rage.

"Not much – hardly at all, in fact. But I wasn't going to keep meeting up with him without at least mentioning the way he treated you – you're my best friend!"

"Am I? Even though apparently you don't trust me enough to believe me when I say someone's not a good person? So you have to go and chat to them about it instead?"

"Scorpius, you're making this into something way worse than it was! If you must know, I had a go at him about it. And like I say, he didn't defend himself – I actually think he feels bad about it…"

Scorpius made a scornful noise, and she broke off.

"Why are you so keen to see a good side to him if you've ditched him and never want to see him again?" he asked.

"Because I ditched him because of _you_, and that's not a good reason to ditch anyone," she burst out, then went on quickly: "No, Scorp, I shouldn't have said that, and I didn't mean it…"

"Didn't you?" Scorpius asked quietly. "What _did_ you mean then?"

"I mean… Oh god, Scorp, it's complicated, okay?"

"But if it wasn't for me and my stupid little issues with a guy I've seen being every kind of tosser, you'd still be going out with him, right?"

"No! Don't twist what I'm saying, Scorpius. For one thing, I was never going out with him in the first place, not really. I'm not sure I want to. And yeah, that is because of the things you've told me, but I don't see them as _stupid little issues_. They're real issues, and they're the reason I freaked out and ran away. But running away isn't a good way to end something, and I can't stop thinking about it. I hurt him, Scorp, and whatever he's done, I don't want to hurt people. That's not me. I want to fix it somehow, and I can't even begin to do that if I'm keeping it all a secret from you."

"So after saying it was all over, you're now telling me it's not all over at all, and you want to see him again, have I got it right?"

There was a short pause. He was being harsh, he knew that, but he couldn't help being angry. He was trying – he and Hazel had never had a serious argument – but the sense of betrayal was strong.

"I want to give him an explanation, at least," she said at last, very quietly. "I want him to know why I reacted the way I did. I want to talk to him about it. But I didn't want to do that without telling you first."

Scorpius shook his head, more to try to clear it than anything, because of course she couldn't see him.

"Hazel, I don't know what you want from me. I don't know what you want me to say. I mean, obviously I wish you'd told me before. It feels like kind of a big thing that you didn't. Are you asking if I'm okay with you carrying on seeing him? Because I'm sorry, but I'm not. And that has nothing to do with me, and the stuff he's done and said to me. Seriously, Hazel – you're the one I'm worried about here. I know him. _Everyone_ at Hogwarts knows what he's like. He sleeps with girls and then dumps them all the time. Last year he snogged his own brother's girlfriend – well, ex-girlfriend, but only just ex! You just can't trust him, Haze – I don't know what he's been saying to you, but you can't!"

"I don't trust him," Hazel answered. "I never said I did. I know everything you've told me about him. But I also know a few other things, things you maybe _don't_ know, Scorpius. Can't you just believe that I'm not going into this without thinking? And that maybe I can actually take care of myself? Can't you just trust _me_?"

"Well, I don't know. Given that you've basically just told me you don't trust me."

"Now you're just completely twisting what I said," she replied, her voice rising again. "Of course I trust you, but that doesn't mean I'm just going to take your word for it on who I should and shouldn't go out with! I'm the only one who gets to decide that, Scorpius!"

"So, you've decided already? Then this conversation was pretty pointless, wasn't it?" He no longer wanted to talk or think about it. He didn't even want to talk to her at all, which was something that had never happened before and it made him feel slightly sick.

"I haven't decided anything, and I didn't think it was pointless," she said, her voice shaking slightly although whether with anger or something else he wasn't certain. "I wanted you to know because I thought it was important, and I thought we might actually be able to talk about it properly. But if you're not even going to try and see my point of view…"

"Well, okay, now I know. So you can go ahead and do what you want, since you're clearly going to do that anyway, whatever I say." He knew he was being bitter and maybe unreasonable, but he didn't care. He didn't want to see her point of view if it was coloured by her conviction that James Potter might be a nice person. Hazel was supposed to be the person who had nothing to do with all the messy parts of his life, all the assumptions and judgements of the wizarding world. She was supposed to be on his side and only his side, and he couldn't help it if that was childish. She'd been there for him since they were six, and he couldn't stand the thought of sharing that in any way with _Potter, _of all people.

"Right. Okay. If that's the way you're going to be, we might as well just stop. Let me know when you're ready to listen to me properly. Bye, Scorp."

There was a beeping noise and he realised that she had ended the call. He had not even had a chance to say goodbye.

* * *

Hugo Weasley sat in the library constructing a plan.

Albus had told him not to interfere, but Al didn't understand that it was because of Hugo's interference in the first place that things had ended up this way. And he had to put it right.

Hugo enjoyed romance. He did not have a great deal of personal experience with it, but he had read a lot of books and watched a lot of films (mostly Disney films at Gran and Grandad Granger's house), and he liked to think he was fairly well versed in how things _ought _to be. The annoying thing was that they didn't often turn out that way because people were too stupid or stubborn to see the path they should be taking. Zeke Lucas, for example. It was high time Zeke moved on from Lily, who had never been right for him in the first place, and Hugo saw no reason why he should not move on to Meri, who was clearly interested. All that remained was to get Zeke to see what a great person Meri was. That shouldn't be hard; it had been extremely easy to persuade Zeke to ask Lily out, after all. The boy was obviously very suggestable.

Step One: Talk to Zeke and convince him that he'd be better off with Meri – or at the very least, get him to give Meri a chance. Hugo was fairly sure he had a great plan for that one. There was the Yule Ball in just a couple of weeks, and if he could get Zeke to ask Meri to it, even just as friends, then Zeke would have to spend the evening with her and that would surely be enough to open his eyes.

Then there was Lily. Lily, who might or might not be telling the truth about her possible interest in Malfoy. Hugo had a guilty conscience regarding his cousin. Not for trying to set her up with Zeke, which _might_ have worked. But last year he had told James that Lily and Malfoy were supposedly together, in the full knowledge that it would send James through the roof. Then, he had only been filled with indignation at the thought of Lily fraternising with the old family enemy. Now he wondered if there had indeed been more to it than a rumour, despite Lily's claims, and whether his stupidity had ruined any potential. But now the potential was back and, instead of being horrified, Hugo's imagination was caught by the thrill of forbidden love. With all the fighting going on, he thought, and the League in the newspapers all the time, a Potter and a Malfoy getting together would be a symbolic union of the kind you only usually found in books.

Step Two: Find out whether Lily really liked Malfoy. That should not have been difficult either, but the trouble was that Lily seemed confused herself. She did not appear to know what she wanted.

Scratch the old Step Two. New Step Two: Help Lily work out what she wanted in life.

How was he going to do that? He wasn't sure that talking to her would help much – he had tried that already. No, he'd have to think of something better. Something that would force her to acknowledge her feelings. He thought of what he knew. She and Malfoy were going to the ball together already, which was slightly annoying because it meant he couldn't use the same tactics as with Zeke and Meri. _Unless…_ A new thought occurred to Hugo, and he considered it carefully. The more he thought about it, the closer to genius it seemed.

Once again, he crossed out Step Two, and wrote it again underneath.

Step Two: Make Lily jealous.

Step Three rather depended on the results of Steps One and Two. If Lily did not, in fact, become jealous, then Hugo would have to acknowledge that he was barking up the wrong tree, and think again on how to put his previous mistakes right. But it would not go wrong, he told himself. Even if Lily did not know that she liked Malfoy, he was sure that she _could_ like him, if nudged in the right direction. The same went for Zeke and Meri.

Now all he needed to do was talk to the right people and put it all in motion.

* * *

The trouble with asking Farah for help was that she was not the easiest person to track down. Lucy supposed that Head Girl duties and NEWTs didn't leave much spare time; at any rate, Farah rarely seemed to be in the Hufflepuff common room. Eventually she asked another seventh-year, and was told that Farah had been summoned to a meeting with Professor Clearwater about the Yule Ball, which was happening in just over two weeks.

Not wanting to run the risk of missing the Head Girl, Lucy made her way to the corridor outside the professor's office, sat down on the floor and waited. She was not at all happy about asking for help. It was her club, and she did not want anyone older taking over, however well-meaning they might be. She had been reluctant even to ask Roxy for help with the costumes, although Tilly had persuaded her it was probably a good idea (and so it had turned out; they would never have got the costumes done without her), and Roxy was not the sort of person who went round taking over things.

She could not see any alternative though, short of giving up, and that was something Lucy was even less inclined to do. She had tried talking to both Eris and Issie, and that had got nowhere. She was not entirely sure what Farah would be able to do, but it was the only thing she could think of. Perhaps Farah would be able to talk sense into them where Lucy had failed.

It took about fifteen minutes before the door to Professor Clearwater's office opened. Unfortunately, Farah did not emerge alone – Albus was with her. Lucy hesitated. She had not intended to ask Al about this, or about anything to do with her drama club. Roxy was one thing. Roxy was quiet and unassuming and only wanted to be allowed to draw and make clothes undisturbed. The rest of Lucy's cousins were another matter, and she had plenty of experience of just how interfering they could be. Albus was by no means the worst, but still. He was four years older than her, he was the Head Boy, and Lucy was the baby of the family. He was quite likely to tell her she should drop the whole thing.

Then again, this might be her one chance to corner Farah today – and she did not want to leave this any longer than she had to. Already, in the three days since the argument, she had had to have one rehearsal without Issie, and neither Jake nor Alice had turned up for it. Eris clearly thought she'd won, and was being unbearable. Lucy felt like a traitor, and what was more, if they continued not to turn up, the performance would not be able to go ahead. You could not perform _Romeo and Juliet_ without Benvolio or Lady Montague.

So she scrambled to her feet as the two older students approached. They looked down at her in surprise.

"Lucy! What are you doing there?" Albus asked.

She looked from one of them to the other. It couldn't be helped. And perhaps Al would actually have some good ideas. He was useful in that way sometimes.

"I need to talk to you," she said. "It's about my drama club."

Albus looked amused, but Farah frowned.

"What about it? Is everything going okay?"

"No, not really," Lucy admitted. "I mean, it _was_. It was all going perfectly, but now…" She gulped, feeling almost like crying as she thought of how well it had been working out before. Suddenly the words were spilling out. "It's my fault. We had to have some Slytherins because of what Clearwater said, so I just got the only ones I could, and I _knew_ Eris had been mean to Issie all last year, but I didn't listen to anyone because she was such a good actress, and I just thought it would all be fine if everyone was focussed on the play. Only now they've had a big argument, and they won't tell anyone what it was about or talk to anyone about it, and Issie says she won't be part of it if Eris is. But I can't chuck Eris out because she's the main character. Only Issie's my friend, and now Alice and Jake don't want to be in it either, and I…" She swallowed hard. "I don't know what to do anymore."

She hated admitting that. Lucy _always _knew what to do. Except that in this case she didn't, and the drama club was too important to let slide. Lucy had been thinking about a drama club for two whole years, and her dream had finally been coming true.

The two seventh-years were looking at each other, clearly trying to make sense of the jumbled explanation.

"This is Eris Montague and Issie Malfoy?" Farah said slowly.

Lucy nodded.

"Have you tried just talking to them?" the Head Girl asked. "I mean, how serious is this argument really?"

"I've tried," Lucy replied. "Eris says Issie's overreacting. And Issie won't tell me anything at all. But I know Eris was horrible to Issie last year. She called her a Blood Traitor, and they picked on her all the time."

Albus and Farah looked a little more serious at that.

"Well, I can kind of understand Iseult's point of view," Farah remarked. "But she's managed to get over it for the last few weeks, hasn't she? Why's it suddenly blown up?"

Lucy sighed. "That's what I'm saying – I don't _know_. They had a fight, but nobody else was there so we don't know what Eris said. If Issie would just talk to me about it, I might be able to sort it out. But she wouldn't tell me anything. And now I think she's angry with me," she added unhappily. "Because she thinks I chose Eris over her."

"Well, Lucy, you can't force people to get along," Farah pointed out. "Some people just aren't going to, and it's not about houses, it's about personality. I mean, I think your drama club's a great idea, but you're going to get personality clashes in any group. And you can't force Issie to be part of it if she doesn't want to be – although I can see it must be really hard, when she's your friend."

Lucy gazed at her in disappointment. Farah did not seem as if she was jumping in to help, despite her offer at the beginning of the term.

"I can't just do nothing, though!" she argued. "Even if Issie doesn't want to be part of it, I need to get Alice and Jake back somehow. We've got a whole show nearly ready, and it's all being spoilt!"

"Hold on, Luce." Albus broke in for the first time, gently but firmly. "Look, I know this isn't really anything to do with me, but just stop and think about things for a minute, will you? You're saying Issie's angry because she thinks you chose Eris over her – well, look at her point of view. I don't know about choosing Eris, but you're definitely choosing your _show_ over your friend. I get that it's important to you – but is it really that important?"

Lucy blinked at her cousin, and found that she was blinking back tears.

"It's not just about me," she whispered. "We've all been working on this all term. We've been rehearsing and rehearsing. I don't want Issie to get hurt; of course it's not worth that. But it is worth _something_. I know you think it's just some stupid thing I've come up with, but I've been wanting it for years, honestly I have, Al. I won't just give up on it."

"Hey, don't get upset." Albus moved and slung an arm round her shoulders. He looked at Farah over her head. "Look, if it's this important to you, the only thing I can think of is getting them to some sort of truce. Try convincing Issie she doesn't have to talk to Eris just to be part of the show. She's not actually acting in it, is she? I heard she was helping with costumes and stuff. So she doesn't have to be around anyone she doesn't want to be. Sounds like you need to let her know you're still on her side, that you're not going to let Eris Montague pick on her, if that's what was happening."

Lucy took a shaky breath, feeling grateful to Albus, but a little despairing of making him understand.

"I've _tried_ to do that. You don't know Issie. Once she's set on something, she won't budge. And I don't know why she won't tell anyone what Eris said, but she won't. Unless she's told Alice and Jake, but if so, she must have told them not to tell anyone because they won't say anything either."

"I wonder if there's anyone she _would_ talk to," Farah said thoughtfully. "I mean, we could try asking Scorpius?"

"I don't know if that's really fair," Albus said doubtfully. "If she'd wanted him to know, she could have talked to him herself. Not that we know she hasn't, I suppose, but if she has then it obviously hasn't fixed anything."

"Well, what about your sister?" Farah went on. "Issie sort of looks up to her, doesn't she? I'm just thinking of people she might listen to, you know? There's no point you or me offering to talk to her – she barely knows us. But I do think that getting Iseult to talk sensibly about it is probably the first step to patching it up."

"I think you're right," said Albus slowly. "But I don't think Lily's a good person to ask, not right now. I can't really say why, but it wouldn't be fair on Lil." He looked at Lucy and sighed. "You know, I swore I wasn't going to have anything to do with your mad plans, Luce. But I can think of someone who might work, and if you really want me to, I can talk to them."

Lucy looked hopefully at him. For all she had been as reluctant to have him involved as he had been to involve himself, once you got Albus on your side he was a very good person to have. His ideas generally worked.

"Would you really?" she asked. "Who is it?"

He hesitated. "Look, just let me talk to them first. I'm not making any promises. But honestly," he added, surprising her, "I think you're right about this. I wasn't sure about it, but when you've all worked so hard, it's not fair to have the whole thing fall apart. Especially because of another Gryffindor-Slytherin fight – that's about the last thing we need. So if we can help, we will. But like I said, no promises."

Suddenly feeling a great deal more cheerful, Lucy smiled at him.

"Thanks, Al. Really."


	9. Stirring Trouble

Albus found himself slightly dismayed by his promise to Lucy. He had never intended to get involved in her mad plan for a drama club – not that he thought it was a terrible plan or disapproved in any way; it was just that Lucy was always coming up with plans, and was generally best left to get on with them by herself. She was usually perfectly capable, and anyway they often involved slightly exhausting levels of effort. Lucy's own energy levels when it came to that sort of thing were second to none, but Albus didn't really feel like he could cope with anything extra this term.

And yet here he was. Because in the end, she was his littlest cousin, and he couldn't _not_ help her when she had actually – for the first time in a long number of years – come to him for help.

But talking to this particular person was the last thing he wanted to do. He wouldn't have wanted to tell Iseult's brother about the whole thing – sometimes your family was just who you _didn't_ want involved. Lily would have been a good idea, for Issie had indeed cottoned onto the older girl as something of a confidante last year, but that was impossible with what Albus (thanks to Hugo) knew about Lily and Malfoy. Whatever was going on, whether it was something or nothing, it wasn't fair to put her in the middle of this.

But there was someone else, and Albus felt that his idea could work, if only he could both swallow his own pride, and get them to listen to him.

It was easy enough to find her. He shared half his lessons with her, as well as a common room, so he merely caught her up coming out of Arithmancy. It had taken him an embarrassingly long time, though, to gear himself up to it, and he had to tell himself firmly that this was nothing personal – it was a request on behalf of someone else, and it didn't need to be awkward.

It was likely to be awkward anyway though.

"Um, Sapphie? Can I have a word for a second?" he said as he came up behind her. He had deliberately picked Arithmancy instead of one of the other subjects they shared, because Rose would not be there, but several other people gave him curious glances. He ignored them. Hogwarts gossip being what it was, everyone would assume they knew what he wanted to talk to Sapphie about, but they'd be wrong.

Sapphie looked round, and there was doubt on her face.

"Look, Al, if this is about…"

"It's not about you and me," he said hastily, as quietly as he could. "It's something totally different. It's for Lucy actually."

The doubt on her face changed to puzzlement, but she stopped walking. Their classmates moved on down the corridor, leaving them behind. It was lunchtime, so there was no lesson waiting for them.

"Lucy?" Sapphie said. "As in your cousin? Why? Is she okay?"

"Well, _she_ is. More or less. But her drama club's not."

Sapphie looked almost amused. "Oh yeah, I heard about her club. What's gone wrong? And why are you telling _me_ about it?" she added, almost as an afterthought.

Albus sighed. "Because I'm hoping you might be able to help. There's been some big argument, and people are dropping out. She's pretty upset about it – she must be, or she'd never have asked for help. I promised her I'd do what I could."

Sapphie's expression softened slightly. "Well, that's nice of you. But why would I be able to help?"

They were, Al thought, talking carefully, avoiding their own issues. Which was fine, except it wouldn't last for long. It couldn't – too much had happened between them. But he'd take it, for now.

"Because you're Issie Malfoy's Quidditch Captain," he answered her simply. "You know her, and she knows you."

"Ohhh." Sapphie's eyebrows shot up. "So this is about Issie? I knew there was something the matter with her – she barely talked last practise. What's happened?"

"Well, that's kind of what Lucy wants to find out. Issie had some sort of fight with Eris Montague, that Slytherin kid in her year. Apparently they've never exactly got on, but now they won't be in the same room, which messes up Lucy's club. They're supposed to be putting on a show at the end of term, so it's all their hard work for nothing if it falls apart. And Lucy's blaming herself, but neither of them'll talk to her about it. Issie doesn't seem like an unreasonable kid to me though. I'm hoping she just needs someone to talk some sense into her, at least enough to get them through the show. And you lot on the Quidditch team spend a fair amount of time together – plus, you're her captain. She'd listen to you."

He paused, looking at Sapphie and waiting for a response. She looked like she was thinking hard.

"Well, yes, she probably would," Sapphie said slowly. "I don't know if she'd tell me any more than she's told Lucy, though. They're good friends, aren't they?"

"Yeah, but it's a bit much to expect a thirteen-year-old to know how to sort something like that out," Albus pointed out. "I'm not suggesting you're going to wave your wand and make it all better. I just think that maybe Issie could do with someone older to talk to, and find out what's going on. I mean, it could be that Eris Montague said something completely out of line, and if so someone ought to stop it before it gets any worse. It sounds like last year got pretty close to real bullying, and nobody ever knew about it."

Sapphie nodded, although she looked worried. "Well, I can try," she said. "Just to see what's going on, I mean. If it's anything serious, I want to anyway," she added. "It affects the team. Plus, Issie's a nice kid. So, yeah, I'll talk to her."

"Well… thanks." Albus gave her a small smile, slightly surprised that she had been so keen to help. Then again, why shouldn't she, except that it was him who was asking? And Sapphie wasn't that petty.

"No problem." She returned the smile, and they stood for a moment, looking at each other.

"Oh, Merlin." Al sighed suddenly. "This is… Look, Sapphie, I'm sorry for the way I acted when you tried to talk to me before. You were right, and I was being an idiot."

"No, I – I understand," she broke in. "I treated you like shit last year, and I shouldn't have just expected you just to get over it and forgive me."

"Well, I didn't exactly treat you that well either," he pointed out. "I judged you for things I should never have judged you for, but it was only because…" He took a deep breath. "Well, because I was hurt."

She nodded. "I know," she said quietly. "I knew that all along, really. But I was hurt too, and I – I was angry, with myself as much as you. So I punished us both, and now I hate myself even more." She gave a small laugh that did not really sound like a laugh. "So I can't really blame you for hating me too."

He blinked at her, feeling a little closer to understanding what had happened than he ever had before. "But I don't hate you," he said. "Seriously, I don't. When I said that, about not wanting to be friends, that's what I mean about me being an idiot. It wasn't true. Truth is, I miss you, Saph," he said honestly. "I don't mean – I mean, I miss you as a friend. And unless I've screwed that up too, I'd like to give it a go. Being friends."

For a moment, she stared at him, and he was sure he had said the wrong thing and it was all going to be a disaster again. He did not seem to be able to talk to Sapphie without messing everything up. He should not have tried to talk about this now, in the middle of the corridor; it was completely the wrong moment.

Then she laughed, and it was a nice laugh.

"Yeah, that sounds good," was all she said. "I'd like that too. It'll shut Rose up as well," she added.

Albus, still taking in her answer, also laughed, relief flooding through him.

"Has she been going on at you too?"

"Of course she has; it's Rose. She's been furious with both of us." She smiled at him, with real warmth this time. "And now we've sorted things out for ourselves, let's see if we can sort things out for those kids in second year too."

* * *

Hugo found Lily at the Quidditch pitch. Rufus had told him where she'd gone, and that she was on her own, and when he got there she was practising shots through the hoops in the slightly misty air. She did not notice him immediately, and rather than shout and startle her (and possible annoy her, which would not be a good start), he sat down on a bench in the front row of the stands and watched her for a few moments. She did not miss many hoops, but that didn't surprise him. She might not have quite James's genius on a broom, but there was nothing wrong with her aim. He was slightly surprised to find her here alone though. She did not have James's Quidditch fanaticism either, despite her well-earned place on the team, and he didn't think this was normally how she spent her Sunday mornings. It strengthened his suspicions that she had something on her mind.

His conversation with Zeke Lucas had gone well. Luckily, Zeke seemed to think that, in this matter at least, Hugo actually knew what he was talking about to some extent. Hugo was Lily's cousin, and he was the same year as both her and Meri, and hung out with them quite regularly, so Zeke assumed he was also in on their secrets in some way. Which he was, of course, but not because they had confided in him.

Zeke had been somewhat slow to pick up on Hugo's hints about Meri, though, and had started looking very puzzled. So in the end Hugo had blurted out:

"You know, if you asked Meri Hewitt to the Yule Ball, I think she'd say yes."

Zeke had looked even more confused.

"Wait… what? You think she'd… Why the hell would she? And what makes you think I'd even want to ask?"

Hugo had realised that he had possibly just given away Meri's big secret, which was the height of unfairness, and not what he had intended to do at all.

"I only mean because you guys used to be good friends, right?" he had said quickly. "I mean, if you asked her as friends, that's all. And I'm just saying – if Lily was still interested in you, going with her best friend would be a good way of finding out, wouldn't it…?"

After he'd dropped that bait, Zeke hadn't needed much persuading at all. The biggest challenge had been getting him to believe that Meri might actually say yes, because last time they had met, Meri had seemed definitely unimpressed by him (Zeke didn't know Hugo knew about that, of course, but it was obviously on his mind). But Hugo had played on Meri's general loveliness and willingness to forgive things, and he was fairly sure he had Zeke convinced. He felt a little guilty that he had used Lily in that way – for one thing, he was fairly certain she was _not_ still interested in Zeke, so it was leading Zeke on with false hope, and for another Meri had made it quite clear what she thought about being used to get close to Lily, quite apart from it not being very fair on Lil herself. But he soothed his conscience with the knowledge that the point of this was to get Zeke's mind onto Meri instead of Lily, and getting him to spend time with her was the only way to do that.

He only had to wait a few moments before Lily glanced over and saw him. He could see the puzzled frown that appeared on her face even from here, and it did not lessen as she flew across to him.

"Hugo!" she called as soon as she was a little closer. "What are you doing here?"

"Came looking for you," Hugo responded.

"Well, I'm here," Lily said. She landed in the stand with him and climbed off her broom. "What did you want? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, of course. No need to sound so worried. If there'd been anything seriously wrong, I wouldn't exactly have just sat here waiting for you to notice me, I'd have shouted. I just want to talk to you about something."

"Oh. Okay." Lily still looked puzzled. "So… d'you want to go somewhere else? I'm okay – I got warm flying – but it's a bit cold out here."

Hugo indicated his winter cloak and the hat and scarf he was wearing. "I'm all right too. And there's nobody else here, so it's a good place."

Her confusion increased, but she perched on a seat beside him and propped her broom up next to her.

"Why, what's the big secret?"

"Well, it's not _my_ secret," he said, looking out across the empty pitch instead of at her. He had spent a long time deciding how best to approach this, and he was still not sure he was going to get it right. "Only, I heard you're going to the ball with Malfoy."

"_What_?" Her voice rose several tones. "Who told you that?"

He glanced at her suspiciously. "Are you saying it's not true?"

She stared at him for a moment, her mouth slightly open. Her cheeks had been flushed from flying in the wind already, but now her whole face had turned crimson. For a moment, he thought she was going to deny it, and then he wouldn't have known what to believe. But she sighed and deflated.

"Okay, fine. It's true. But it's none of your business. How did you find out anyway?"

"I know it's none of my business," he said hastily, carefully failing to answer her question. "I'm not here to have a go at you about it or anything. I was just… Well, does that mean you _do_ like him, even though you told me you didn't?"

"No, Hugo." She sighed again. "What I told you was the exact truth, okay? I'm going to the ball with him as a friend, that's all, I swear. And maybe also a little bit to annoy James," she admitted, before her tone turned exasperated again. "Why are you so obsessed with this anyway, Hugo? D'you fancy him yourself or something?"

"What?" Hugo spluttered slightly, feeling his cheeks heat up a little. "No, of course not. I'm not interested in guys. And I'm not obsessed with it – I'm _interested_, that's all. So this is all some plan to get back at James, then? I thought it might be something to do with that," he added, unable to help feeling a little smug, since he _had_ guessed this, and it turned out he'd been right.

"So interested you came all the way out here to find me and ask me about it?" she said sceptically. "No, actually, that's not even that weird in our family, is it? I don't know what else you want to know though. There isn't anything else to know."

"Does James know?" Hugo asked, after a small pause in which he tried to decide what questions to ask next.

She shrugged. "No, but he found out about us meeting in Hogsmeade quickly enough. Someone'll tell him."

"Just in time for you to go home for Christmas. That'll be fun for you."

"He can't say much at home," she said confidently. "Mum'd roast him alive if she found out the way he's been on at me."

Hugo wasn't sure he shared her optimism – James might not want to have it out in front of their parents (he agreed with Lily about that) but in Hugo's experience, if James had something to say, he found a way to say it. Still, Lily was as used to James as he was.

"Well, all right," was all he said on that matter. "You and Jamie can fight about it as much as you like. _My_ question's the same as it always was – what d'you really think of Malfoy?"

Lily folded her arms across her chest. "Hugo, I've already _told_ you – about a billion times!" she began.

"This isn't just the Yule Ball, though," Hugo interrupted. "You went to Hogsmeade with him too. Since when do people go on platonic dates to Hogsmeade with people they're not even usually friends with? And this is you – I mean, no offence, Lil, but you're always going to Hogsmeade with guys and saying it's not a real date, then snogging their faces off before the end of the day."

"I've done that _twice_," she snapped. "That's not _always_. And I did not snog Scorpius, or kiss him in any way, or hold hands with him, or any other romantic thing you can think of, okay? We had a butterbeer and we talked. That's it."

He watched her face, and he could see that she was telling the truth. But just as before, when he had talked to her on her birthday, he thought there was something she was holding back. And he thought he knew what it was.

Now he'd come to the point where he had to lie again, and once again guilt was prickling him. But it would all be worth it in the end. And now he'd started the whole thing, he had to go the rest of the way.

"Well, that's good," he said casually. "I mean, it's good you only like him as a friend."

She stared at him, her eyes narrowing. "Hugo, if you're going to start all that again…"

"I'm not starting anything again," he broke in. "I don't mean it's good because of what _I_ think. Or what James thinks. I just mean…" he stopped and pretended to hesitate.

"What?" She jumped into his trap immediately. "_What_ do you mean?"

"Well, don't say anything about this to anyone, obviously." He lowered his voice and grinned at her. "But I overheard Malfoy talking to Urquhart the other day, and he likes someone else. So all I'm saying is, I'm glad you don't like him that way. I was going to tell you anyway, but now I don't have to be worried about you. Don't tell him I told you, will you?" he added, watching her very carefully.

He was not disappointed. Lily was very bad at hiding her emotions, and the expressions that crossed her face moved between disbelief and dismay. Finally, a heavy frown came down. Hugo was fairly certain he already had his answer.

"Who is it?" she said at last, trying and failing to smile as if the whole thing meant nothing to her. "That Muggle friend of his?"

"What Muggle friend of his? No, it's…" He hesitated again, genuinely this time. He had not been sure about going this far. But Lily had to be more than a bit disgruntled – she had to be jealous enough to admit it to herself. And this part of the operation was not going to last long. As soon as she cracked, he could tell her the truth – although, it occurred to him now, she might not be very happy with him.

"It's Meri," he said eventually. "That's what he said. That he likes Meri Hewitt. I suppose they got to know each other doing prefect duty," he went on. "Kind of funny, though. I wonder what Meri'd think of it – or maybe she already knows. Has she said anything to you?"

Lily was looking as if she'd been hit with a Confundus Charm, and her face had flooded with scarlet.

"You don't mind, do you, Lil?" he asked.

Now was the point at which, in Hugo's head, Lily would break down with a sudden realisation of her feelings. It certainly appeared that she had had a realisation of _some_ sort. But she barely seemed to have listened to his question.

"That's… that's _impossible_," she breathed, then looked at him properly, her eyes anxious. "Are you sure that's what he said, Hugo? I mean, you do tend to exaggerate stuff?"

"Of course I'm sure. He literally said her name – Meri Hewitt. I don't see why it's impossible. Meri's nice – and quite pretty."

He looked expectantly at her.

She jumped to her feet.

"Hey, where are you going?" he demanded in alarm, also standing up.

"Got to go and talk to her," she muttered, hardly looking at him as she slung a leg over her broom again.

"No, Lily, wait!" Hugo made a grab for her arm, but she was quicker than him, and pushed up into the air. "Lily, hang on! There's something I have to tell you first! Just wait and talk about it, will you?"

But she was not listening to him.

"I'll talk to you later, okay, Hugo?" She glanced over her shoulder at him as she flew over the edge of the stand, but she barely seemed to see him.

He could not hope to catch her; she was a fast flier, and he had no broom. All he could do was stand and watch as she disappeared towards the castle, a feeling of dismay growing inside him. He had his answer, and was more sure than ever that Lily liked Scorpius Malfoy. But rather than stay and talk about it like a reasonable person, she had rushed off to – what? Confront Malfoy about it? No, she had said 'her'. Oh Merlin, was she going to tell Meri? That was going to create a mess, and he'd have to put it right again, wouldn't he?

Unless… perhaps it wasn't such a disaster after all. Meri wouldn't be able to tell her that the story was a lie, and it couldn't do _Meri_ any harm to believe for a while that Malfoy fancied her. She liked Zeke, after all, not Malfoy. Maybe what Lily needed was to talk not to Hugo, but to her best friend. Meri was a sensible person who would help Lily work out what to do, and then Hugo could come back into it, confess what he'd done (that part would probably be unpleasant), and help Lily move forward with Malfoy. No, the plan was still on track – just.


	10. More Important Things

Meri came into the common room feeling more confused than she had done for a long time. What had just happened had been the absolute last thing she had ever expected - and while on the face of it, it seemed like something she ought to feel happy about, it wasn't as simple as that. There had to be something behind it, of that she was sure. But what? It made no sense. And she was more than confused - she was angry too, and what was more it had flustered her, which was even more irritating. She spotted Lily sitting by the fire, and headed straight for her. Maybe it was insensitive to tell Lily about this, but she had to _know_. It might well – in fact, it probably was – connected to her, and she was Meri's best friend. Meri was fed up with talking round things and the two of them not being straight with each other. After her slip-up in telling Zeke about Malfoy, she owed Lily the truth. Anyway, she needed to talk it over, and Lily was the only person she wanted to do that with.

"Lil?" she said, as she approached. Bothered though she was, she still noticed that Lily herself didn't seem totally relaxed. She wasn't reading or doing school work or anything – just sitting there with a frown on her face, staring into the fire.

Lily jumped at the sound of Meri's voice, and looked up. If anything, the frown deepened.

"Meri! Where have you been? I was looking for you."

"Sorry, I had a prefects' meeting," Meri explained, puzzled by Lily's tone of voice. She sounded almost… well, annoyed that she hadn't been able to find Meri, which was unusual and also unreasonable. Meri quite regularly had prefects' meetings, or she could have been in the library or the toilets or anything. Meri had no obligation to be in the common room whenever Lily happened to want her, and Lily had never before been entitled enough to expect it.

"Oh," Lily said stiffly. "A prefects meeting. Right. Was Scorpius there?"

What on earth was going on? Everything seemed all upside down at the moment, what with the encounter she'd just had and now this. It was almost as if the world was in on a joke, conspiring to confuse the hell out of Meri Hewitt.

"Yes, he was," she replied. "Why? Have you two had an argument or something?" That would explain Lily's bad mood, and also the funny tone in her voice when she mentioned Malfoy's name.

"No, nothing like that," Lily said. "It doesn't matter. Forget it."

Well, this was definitely not normal Lily behaviour. _Something_ had happened, but if Lily didn't want to tell her, she wasn't going to get it out of her by pestering. The best she could hope for was just to carry on and hope Lily would come out with it in the end – which she probably would, as she usually did. What Meri had to tell her just now probably wouldn't help to make her any happier, but if she waited then it would be even worse when she _did_ tell Lily.

"Well, listen, Lil. The weirdest thing's just happened, and I don't know how to tell you about it."

Lily looked up, a flicker of new interest in her eyes. Meri just wished that what she was going to say was better news.

"What is it? What happened?"

Meri sat down on the armchair beside Lily's.

"I… Merlin, Lil, I really hope this doesn't bother you, especially if there's something else going on with you. But you're my best friend and I have to tell you – Zeke Lucas just asked me to the Yule Ball."

For a moment, Lily just stared at her. Meri, anxiously watching her friend's face, saw shock register in Lily's hazel eyes, and then gradually something else appear, something a little like anger. Or hurt. Meri's heart sank. But Lily was obviously struggling with herself.

"Zeke did?" she said at last, her voice not sounding quite like herself. "Zeke asked you to the ball? Well. I mean, that's great for you, isn't it? He's a nice guy. And that makes two of them after you." She laughed, the sound a little too bright and brittle. "You'll have to choose."

"_What?_" Meri could tell that Lily minded, and she was definitely going to address that in a minute, but there was no way she was letting something like that get past her. "What d'you mean, two of them? Who's the other supposed to be?"

"Oh, you don't know? I thought you might." Lily was looking at the fire again, not meeting Meri's eyes. "Apparently Scorpius likes you as well. Don't worry. I don't _mind_," she added unconvincingly. "I mean, if you weren't going to the ball with Zeke, I'd say I wouldn't go with Scorpius, so you could instead. If you wanted to. I don't know though." She smiled, though the smile wobbled and disappeared quite quickly. "Bit unfair, I'd say. You having _two_ people fancying you. Couldn't you have made do with one?"

Meri, staring at her friend, had not yet managed to respond. Initially she thought she must have misheard – or misunderstood. But as Lily rattled on, obviously trying hard to seem as if she didn't care, it was clear that this really was happening. Except that it was ridiculous. It was bizarre and impossible and completely unbelievable.

"Lil, stop. That… that's crazy. It can't possibly be true," she stammered out at last. A horrible suspicion occurred to her suddenly. "This isn't some kind of joke, is it?" She couldn't really believe it of Lily, but it was the least nonsensical explanation for what was going on. Perhaps the whole thing was a trick, Zeke and all. After all, Lily did not know that Meri genuinely liked Zeke.

"Of course it's not a joke," Lily said. "Why would I make something like that up? It's not that crazy. Why shouldn't they like you? You're nice and pretty and kind, and way more clever and sensible than me." She was still not looking at Meri, and her voice got slightly shaky at the end. "It makes total sense really."

"No, it doesn't." Meri's brain was finally engaging properly, and although she did believe Lily when she said it wasn't a trick (Lily couldn't lie properly, and anyway she wouldn't lie like that to Meri), everything was telling her that something weird was going on. "No, seriously, Lily. I'm not putting myself down – even though you're all those things too, and you're definitely prettier than me. But that's not the problem," she went on quickly, before Lily could argue. "I mean, the whole thing makes no sense. I've barely even _spoken_ to Scorpius Malfoy – he doesn't know me! How did you even work it out that he likes me? Did he _say_ so?" She could not imagine that. Even if Malfoy and Lily were only friends, it was a bit much to agree to go to the ball with a girl, then tell her that you fancied her best friend. Unless it really was all some sort of strange joke.

"No," Lily said. "Hugo told me."

"_Hugo?_" Meri blinked at her. "How would_ he _know?"

"He heard Scorpius telling Urquhart," Lily said. "I mean, I don't know why you're looking for reasons for it not to be true, Mer. There's no reason for him to say that to Urquhart if it _wasn't_ true. And Hugo said they said your name, and even he couldn't misunderstand that. Scorpius is a nice guy – maybe you should…"

"A nice guy who _you_ like," Meri cut across her friend ruthlessly. "And don't you think that's a bit weird, Lil? Two guys you've been involved with suddenly apparently fancy _me_, even though one of them's never even spoken to me."

Lily looked up, a frown on her face. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying it makes no sense," Meri said impatiently. "And why is Hugo interfering anyway? He did that last year too – did you know it was him who convinced Zeke to ask you out?"

Lily's mouth fell open. "No! Hugo did? But why?"

"I don't know. Maybe he thought he was helping. Maybe he thinks he's helping now. How did he just _happen_ to overhear that conversation anyway?" The more Meri thought about it, the more suspicious she was of Hugo Weasley's involvement. She couldn't think of a single possible reason for him to make something like that up, but she could easily imagine him getting the wrong end of the stick, or exaggerating whatever he'd heard.

"I don't know," Lily said slowly. "But he was sticking his nose in a few weeks ago as well. Only then it was almost like he wanted me to get together with Scorpius."

"Well, I definitely want to talk to Hugo a bit more about this," Meri said firmly. "Because it's weird, and I don't believe it. Any of it."

"Apart from the bit about Zeke," Lily said after a small pause. "That wasn't Hugo – Zeke literally asked you out."

Meri hesitated. Now was the moment to find out the truth. "Do you mind?" she asked at last. "Honestly, I mean."

There was another pause. Lily still did not look at her. "No," she said eventually. "Of course I don't."

Meri sighed. "Lily, you're obviously lying."

"Okay, well maybe I am," Lily burst out, her words coming in a rush. "I mean, wouldn't _you_ mind, if I went out with your ex-boyfriend less than three months after you broke up? I don't still like him or anything, it's just… Well, it's weird, you know? Especially since my date apparently likes you too. And I'm not saying I fancy him either, but you've got two guys and I've got nobody, and I'm sorry if that makes me a horrible person…"

"It doesn't make you a horrible person," Meri broke in quietly. "At least, if it does then I'm one too. Because how d'you think I _always_ feel when you've got people lining up to go on dates with you and I've never been on an actual date in my life?" Now, if ever, would be the point to tell Lily about her feelings for Zeke, but Meri found she couldn't do that. It had been too private for too long.

There was a silence, and now it was Meri who couldn't look at Lily, and Lily who was staring at her.

"Mer, I never knew that," Lily said at last, her voice entirely changed from the slightly accusatory tone she had used a moment ago. "I mean, I… I always thought you weren't interested in stupid stuff like that. You always said you didn't mind…"

"Yeah well, what was I supposed to say? And I didn't mind, not really. I don't mind you going out with people. It just… just sometimes, it feels like crap, when nobody's even interested in me ever. It's not a big deal," she added quickly.

"Yes it is. Of course it is. I'm selfish and horrible, and I should have realised. And now I'm here being a bitch about you having a date to the Yule Ball. I'm the worst friend ever."

Meri barely had time to look up, let alone respond to this, before Lily was suddenly in front of her and flinging her arms round her. Startled, Meri jumped, then relaxed and returned the hug.

"Lil, you're not. It's okay," she insisted.

"And that's why you're a way nicer person than me," Lily replied, releasing Meri but squeezing into the same chair as her. "You forgive everything. But I'm going to be better, Mer, I swear I am. And if I start being selfish again, you have to tell me. Okay?"

Meri laughed, suddenly feeling such an immense relief that it brought tears to her eyes. It had been a horrible weight, all her feelings when she was around Lily, and just to have it out in the open made a big difference. "Okay, fine. But you're not selfish. Not really."

"Well anyway, I'm sorry," Lily said, leaning back and resting her shoulder against Meri's. "Truly. And I don't mind you going to the ball with Zeke. I don't even mind if you want to go out with him properly. And as for Scorpius, I'm going to get that out of Hugo. But it would serve me right if he did fancy you, and I don't see why he shouldn't."

The corner of Meri's mouth twitched upwards. "Well, thanks. But you don't need to worry – I'm about 98% sure Malfoy isn't interested in me. And if you really want to know, I said no to Zeke."

"Oh." Lily tilted her head to look at Meri. "Why?"

"Because he was going out with you three months ago!" Meri replied heatedly. "I don't believe he likes me either – he just wants to be able to hang out with you, just like last time. Plus you can't break up with someone and move straight on to their best friend – that's not an okay thing to do."

It had been one of the hardest answers she had ever given, because she had _wanted_ to go to the Yule Ball with him. It had been all her most secret dreams coming true. But in the end, her friendship with Lily was more important than any of that. Zeke was a nice person deep down, of that Meri was certain, but he could also behave in ways she didn't like at all, and she didn't want to go out with someone like that even if he was not just using her to get to Lily. If that meant she had to forget about him and move on somehow, then that was just what she was going to have to do.

"You could have gone with him," Lily was saying. "I wouldn't have minded."

"I'd have minded," Meri retorted. "I don't want to be used. Anyway, I've already decided, so that's that."

"Right. Well." An expression of determination came over Lily's face. "You're not going by yourself though. I'm going to find you a date, and he's going to be perfect."

* * *

Issie had had a miserable few days. She had refused to talk to Lucy because the only thing Lucy wanted was for her to give in and come back to the club, and she was determined not to do that. Not if Eris Montague was there. And part of her felt guilty that she was letting Lucy down, but another part was full of hurt anger that Lucy – whom she had thought was her friend – had picked Eris instead of her.

Alice and Jake had tried to ask her about it too, but she told them she did not want to talk about it. They wouldn't understand. Couldn't understand. Issie barely understood herself. All she knew was that Eris, and the people like her, seemed to have an enormous grudge against Issie, against her family, and against the fact that she had been sorted into Gryffindor. But after all the names she had been called, Issie was not going to back down and let Eris think that she had won.

So Alice and Jake tiptoed round her as if she had somehow suddenly become delicate, and she avoided her other friends. She did not go to the drama rehearsals, and pretended not to hear Tilly calling her name as she left the Great Hall after breakfast one day.

But some things had to go on, and Quidditch was one of them. Nobody on the Quidditch team was anything to do with the drama club, and she cheered up while she was in the air, thinking only about keeping her broom moving smoothly, and about looking for the snitch. Her problems seemed to have been left on the ground, but as soon as she was down again her gloom returned. She knew that she would not be able to go on ignoring everyone forever. At some point she was going to have to explain to Lucy exactly why she couldn't be part of the same club as Eris Montague, and she wasn't looking forward to the conversation. Lucy would try to persuade her, and the trouble was it was very hard to say no to Lucy Weasley.

Having no desire to go back to the common room, where it was likely that she would encounter people like Pádraig and Artemis, she lingered while getting changed. Lily and Angharad – who had been Seeker until the end of last year, when she had joyfully handed over the role to Issie and taken James Potter's place as Chaser – had changed and gone, chatting about the Yule Ball (for which Lily apparently had a date, although she was refusing to say who it was). Emilia, the third Chaser, had hung around for a few moments, waiting for Sapphie, but Sapphie was making notes on the practise and had told her to go ahead. Slowly, Issie sat down and tied her shoelaces. She could not hang around the changing rooms forever, especially with Sapphie here.

"You all right, Issie?" Sapphie's voice startled her, and she looked up.

"Yes, thanks," she said automatically.

Sapphie laid her parchment and quill down on the bench beside where she sat, and looked thoughtfully at Issie.

"Are you sure? You've seemed kind of quiet the last couple of practises. Not really your usual self."

Hastily, Issie tried to work out what was really behind these questions. Was Sapphie just concerned for her, or was she tactfully saying that Issie wasn't playing well enough? Issie hadn't thought she'd let her worries affect her game, but maybe she hadn't done as well as she'd thought.

"I'm fine," she said quickly. "I've got a bit of a cold, though." Not exactly a lie, although it was no more than the sort of snuffly nose you normally got at this time of year. Definitely not enough to have affected her Quidditch.

"Yeah?" Sapphie raised her eyebrows, looking almost amused. "Well, for goodness' sake don't do an Emilia on us – if you're not feeling well, go to Madam Pomfrey. Not that we've got any more matches this term, so we should be all right."

"Oh, I'm not that ill," Issie hastened to assure her. "Honestly. I'm fine."

Sapphie sighed. "Okay, look, Issie – I'll come clean. I heard about what happened with the drama thing. And I know that must be rough, so I just thought I'd check you were doing okay, and if you wanted to talk about it or anything."

Issie froze and for a moment held her breath. That was just exactly what she _didn't_ want to talk about, and the last thing she had expected was to hear about it from Sapphie Jordan, who was a seventh-year and miles above any of it. What should she say?

"Oh," she said at last. "Well. I mean, I- I don't really want to. Talk about it, I mean." After a moment's reflection, she supposed she shouldn't be surprised that Sapphie knew about it. People gossiped, and Sapphie was friends with more than one of Lucy's cousins. She wouldn't have expected Sapphie to be very interested though.

"Right," Sapphie agreed, still looking at her. "Well, I get that. Thing is, you're on my Quidditch team, and as the captain, I'm supposed to look out for you, especially for things that could affect your performance. It's not going to do that, is it?"

"No!" said Issie at once, dismayed. "Honestly, Sapphie! I promise I'll work just as hard as usual. It's not… it's not important."

That was a lie, of course, at least the second part was. It _was_ important to her, very important.

"No?" Sapphie sounded like she did not altogether believe it either. "Look, Issie, what _did_ happen? I mean, I heard it was about that Montague kid – did she say something to you? She wasn't that nice to you last year either, was she? If there's something going on, you ought to tell someone, you know."

Issie stared at Sapphie, trying to think what to say. Inside, she felt herself crumbling. Her first thought had been to hide everything. But it seemed like Sapphie knew half of it anyway. And why should she keep it to herself? It wasn't as if Eris deserved that.

It involved more people than Eris though. If she went and got Eris into trouble, that would probably be the end of the drama club altogether. Professor Clearwater had said all along that they could only do it if it was contributing to house unity, and this was exactly the opposite of that, although it wasn't Issie's fault. Anyway, she did not want to repeat all the things Eris had said to her, the things about her family. She knew that plenty of people in Gryffindor had been no more pleased about her sorting than some of the Slytherins – what Sapphie had thought personally, she had no idea, but the thought of relating all her family's troubles with their fellow Purebloods made her feel hot and ashamed.

"Issie?" Sapphie prompted gently.

"I don't know why she hates me," Issie admitted at last, talking slowly and wondering how much to say. "I never did anything to her."

"So what makes you think she hates you?"

"Last year she called me a blood traitor." Sapphie looked a little shocked, so Issie hurried on. "But I didn't care that much, because I didn't have to hang around with her, and my friends stuck up for me. It's only now we're in the drama club together. At least, we were. She's the main character in the show, you know. I s'pose she's quite a good actor, but I wish Lucy hadn't picked her. Most of the Slytherins in the club are fine," she added. "They're nice. So I don't know why Eris has got a problem with me."

"So has she been calling you names again, or what?" Sapphie persisted. "Because that's the sort of thing she shouldn't get away with – I mean, there's names and then there's names, and there's a reason people shouldn't go throwing 'blood traitor' around."

"People _do_, though," Issie said, saying more than she had intended to in her desire to explain. "You don't understand - I know nobody in Gryffindor would ever say stuff like that, but not everyone thinks it's that bad. Some people still think it's normal - they talk like that all the time, I've heard them when we've gone to pureblood parties and things. They even use the, you know, the M word for Muggleborns. Not my family," she added hastily. "At least, not my mum and dad. They don't call people that. But some people do."

Sapphie laughed, a grim note in her voice. "You don't need to tell me that – or that I don't understand. I may not hear that kind of slur thrown around much, but I've heard plenty of others. I'm black - I know prejudice doesn't disappear, even if people want to believe it has. Doesn't mean people should get away with it – in fact, it's a good reason why they shouldn't."

Issie blinked at her. She had never really thought about things like that. "Yes, but _I'm_ not the one people like that're prejudiced against," she pointed out. "I'm a pureblood. And I never heard Eris calling a Muggleborn names, even though there are plenty of them in our year. I don't think it's about that really – it's just me she doesn't like. She didn't call me a blood traitor this year," she added. It seemed strangely as if she was actually sticking up for Eris Montague in a weird way – which she wasn't, of course, but she didn't want Sapphie to misunderstand. Eris might be a blood purist – some people were. But that didn't really explain why she should hate Issie.

"Well, you'd know more about that than me," Sapphie said. "I don't even know the kid. But sometimes people just use the easiest insult they can think of. Sometimes they don't even really know what it means, or they don't think about it anyway. That's not an excuse though. What _has_ she been saying to you this year?"

And Sapphie sounded so genuinely concerned, so _understanding_ of the whole thing, not like she thought it was a big fuss over nothing, that Issie found herself pouring the story out. The way Eris had made a point of picking on her right from the start last year, the way she and her brother and a whole group of others had threatened Issie at the New Year party, how hard it had been to start feeling like she really belonged in Gryffindor and hadn't been put in the wrong house. And then the drama club and how Lucy had clamped down on any hint of fighting, but how Eris had suddenly turned on her when they were alone. The stuff about the League, and the things Eris had said about Issie's family, about how they got away with everything and acted like they were better than everyone else.

"And it doesn't even make _sense_," she finished. "It was like she blamed me for the League getting found out, and people thinking her parents were part of it, but that isn't my fault, or my mum and dad's fault. It's the people _in_ the League's fault, for doing all that horrible stuff! But it was like… like she thought I'd got put in Gryffindor on purpose, to… to…" she fumbled for the right words, "to look like I was better than them or something. And that's just stupid – everyone in my family's in Slytherin; why would I think people in Gryffindor are better?"

She had ended up with her feet up on the bench, her knees huddled up to her chest and her arms wrapped round them. Sapphie was looking at her, she could sense it, but she couldn't meet her eyes. Already she wasn't sure if she should have said all that. Some of it was personal stuff, _family_ stuff, and family stuff wasn't supposed to be shared. How could Sapphie do anything about it anyway?

"It doesn't matter anyway," she mumbled into her knees. "I don't know why she hates me really, but she does, and my family too. And I don't want to be in the drama club with her."

"Wow," Sapphie said eventually, when Issie had almost started to think she wouldn't say anything at all. "That's a lot of heavy stuff, when you think about it. I mean, half of it's hangover from the war, isn't it? I wish people could just let it all go." A tinge of annoyance came into her voice as she spoke, but the next moment she was more thoughtful again. "You want to know what I honestly think? I think Eris Montague sounds more like she's scared and hurt than that she hates you."

Issie looked up in amazement that turned into hurt anger. Was _everyone_ going to take Eris's side? She opened her mouth to argue, but Sapphie cut across her.

"No, listen a second. I'm not making excuses for how she treated you last year, but half of that sounds like she was joining in with the older kids. And this year? Well, look what's happening. Okay, the Montagues haven't actually been accused of anything, but there's still investigations going on. And if her family's being investigated for things they haven't even done, I can see why she'd feel like that's not fair. Plus, she's friends with that Avery girl, isn't she? An Avery was one of the ones who got arrested. And then there's you, and your family_ was_ involved last year – Oh, I know they didn't do anything wrong! But as far as anyone knows, neither did the Montagues. I'm not saying it's okay for her to take it out on you, and I don't blame you for wanting to stay away from her. I'm just saying that sometimes people lash out and do shitty things when they're hurt and angry, that's all."

It wasn't what Issie wanted to hear, and she hugged her knees tighter to her chest.

"So you think I'm being stupid and I should just go back and do the play," she said, her voice indistinct.

"No, I think you should do whatever you want to do," Sapphie replied. "And if she says anything to you again, I think you should tell someone. Ignoring that kind of thing doesn't solve anything, and there's no excuse for going round calling people blood traitors, as if we were stuck fifty years ago. But I also think that maybe she's not worth running away from. You guys have put a lot of work into that play from what I've heard. And now Lucy Weasley's stuck in a nasty position, you're miserable, and the show might not even happen. An angry little girl throwing round slurs she doesn't understand – she's not worth any of that, Issie. I'm not going to tell you that you should go back to the club if you don't want to. But I think you should at least talk to Lucy. She's your friend, and she deserves to understand."

* * *

Sapphie encountered Albus in the common room that evening.

"I talked to her," she said abruptly, by way of greeting.

"Any luck?" he asked, raising his head from the book he was reading.

"I don't know. I don't think I'm very good at giving advice. But she did tell me what had happened."

"And?"

Sapphie sighed and flopped into a chair. "I think I've persuaded her to talk to Lucy anyway. But I think if you really want to sort things out, you need someone to sit down and have a chat with Eris Montague too, because that kid seems pretty mixed up, and she's repeating some nasty stuff. If she's getting it from older people in her house – or her family – which I think she must be, then a fight between her and Issie Malfoy's the least you should be worrying about."


	11. Up To Something

Albus reported what Sapphie had said to both Farah and Lucy.

With Farah, he hurriedly bypassed the fact that he had roped his ex-girlfriend in to help. Farah was not Rose; she had never mentioned Sapphie to Al, and she had no reason to be especially interested, as she did not really know Sapphie. Still, she must know what had happened because he was pretty sure everyone in their year did, and he didn't particularly want to start bringing discussions of his personal life into what was basically Head Girl and Boy business.

There did not, however, seem to be much else they could do about the situation. Albus, having tried his best, was ready to accept it as a shame but not really a disaster. Farah was less willing to give up. She again suggested telling Scorpius Malfoy what was happening, but Albus was dubious about this, feeling that it was a little bit too much like interfering in family matters. He did agree to talk again to Lucy, though.

The conversation with Lucy was shorter. In this case, he did not repeat what Issie had told Farah about Eris Montague, or the details of the argument. Again, that seemed like betraying confidences. It was up to Issie what she trusted her friends with. He said only that Sapphie had talked to Issie, and that he thought Lucy should try again to initiate a conversation herself.

"She doesn't hate you," he told his cousin. "She's just hurt that you're not blindly taking her side, and I can see why you're not, but I can also see why she'd be hurt. She still wants to be friends as much as you do, though, so talk to her again – and try to listen as well as talk, Luce. You're not always very good at that, you know."

"I know." Lucy looked a little ashamed. "I will. Thanks, Al." She looked curiously at him. "Are you and Sapphie talking to each other again then?"

Albus, to his great annoyance, felt his cheeks heating up. That was the trouble with Lucy. She might not be much good at listening to things she didn't want to hear, but there was nothing wrong with her powers of observation when she used them.

"Yes, we are," he said shortly, not seeing much point either in saying no (which would be untrue, and was not what he wanted people to think anyway) or in pretending he and Sapphie had never _not_ been talking (which would also be untrue, and Lucy would know it was untrue).

"Oh." Lucy thought about this. "Are you… you know… going back to how things were?"

"No," he said firmly, "we're not, so you can get that one right out of your head. We're friends, like we always were. And I'm not answering any more questions," he added, seeing her open her mouth again. "Keep your nose out, Lucy."

To his relief, she shut up about it, and he went on his way fervently hoping that somehow things would sort themselves out. Really, an argument between a couple of second-years ought to be among the least of his worries, but it all just seemed so typical of this year. And might, if Sapphie was right, only be a symptom of whatever was brewing underneath.

* * *

Issie had done some hard thinking, and found her resolve weakening.

First, Alice had finally broken her own restraint and flat out begged Issie to come back.

"It's not the same without you," she had said, her blue eyes pleading. "It's no fun. But I can't tell them I won't do it, because then who'd do my part? Please, Is! Nobody'll even say anything about it – and if Eris Montague does, I'll hex her myself!"

Issie was unable to help laughing at the fierce expression in Alice's face. Her friends were on her side – of course they were. And they'd stay there, no matter what happened. She'd been stupid to doubt it.

Then, after dinner one day, she heard a voice calling, "Hoi, Malfoy!" and turned to find, to her surprise, Titus Hart pushing his way through the crowd towards her. For a moment she braced for something unpleasant, and indeed he was frowning at her.

"What the hell, Malfoy?" he demanded, coming to a halt directly in front of her. "How come you've just ditched us, and left me and Tilly to do all your work?"

She stared at him, too startled to reply.

"I mean, seriously," he added. "When are you coming back? I haven't got anyone to talk to at rehearsals any more. Tilly's always running round doing stuff."

Issie swallowed. She wanted to say that she was not coming back, but maybe… maybe…

"I… I don't know," she said instead.

He looked unimpressed. "Well, you'd better hurry up. I'm going to get stuck with being Stage Manager or whatever if you don't, and I don't even know what I'm doing." He paused for a moment, looking at her with narrowed eyes. "You're not actually going to let her get to you, are you? Everyone knows Eris Montague just loves talking crap. She doesn't mean any of it. Just show her you don't care, and she'll leave you alone."

Issie did not promise anything, and she was by no means as convinced as Titus either that Eris did not mean what she had said, or that she would leave Issie alone if she came back to the drama club. But then again, now that everyone knew what had happened, she didn't really think Eris would dare to pick another fight, at least not with the third-years about and on the look-out. And support – at least, she supposed you could call it support – from such an unlikely source as Titus Hart actually made her feel a little better.

The conclusion she came to in the end was that Sapphie was right. Whether Issie went back to the drama club or not, it was not worth falling out with Lucy over this. And Titus was also right – by leaving them at this point, she was letting everyone down. She was supposed to be in charge behind the scenes on the night of the performance. Tilly would be sitting in the corner with the script (Tilly and Lucy called it 'on the book'), in case anyone forgot their lines, and would have to be concentrating on what she was doing the whole time. Issie was the only other person who knew exactly what props everyone needed for each scene, what needed changing on the stage between the scenes, which costume changes had to happen when, and a hundred other things. Titus had been very helpful, but he had never really paid attention to all the conversations she and Tilly had had about it.

And then her mind kept going back to the other thing Sapphie had said. That she felt sorry for Eris Montague. The more she thought about it, the more Issie realised that the Montagues were sort of stuck in the middle, just like Issie felt her own family was. They'd been in the League, but not in the worst of what the League had done, at least not as far as anyone knew. Eris's parents had got out of it as fast as they could once people started being arrested – which was quite hypocritical of Eris really, because that was exactly what she claimed the Malfoys had done, Issie thought crossly.

When she stopped being cross, though, she had to acknowledge that her family's actions weren't Eris's fault. None of it was. In fact, unlike her brother, she'd stood by her old friends. She was still friends with Lilith Avery, even though Lilith's uncle had been arrested. And she had stuck up for Weylin Nott apparently. Eris was caught between her family and her friends.

Issie couldn't bring herself really to feel sorry for her, but she could see what Sapphie meant.

So when she came down to breakfast the day after talking to Titus and found Lucy waiting just outside the door, she didn't keep walking, but stopped and looked nervously at the older girl.

"Hey," she said, in a small voice.

"Hey. I was waiting for you." Lucy smiled at her, and Issie began to feel more hopeful.

"We'll see you inside, okay, Issie?" Alice said, and she and Jake disappeared into the great hall.

Issie took a deep breath. "I wanted to talk to you too," she said. "I'm sorry. For messing up the club. I never meant…"

"No, I'm sorry too," Lucy broke in. "I didn't listen properly, and I should have."

She looked around. There were other students pouring past them into the hall for breakfast.

"D'you want to just go down the corridor a bit?" she suggested.

Issie nodded, and they moved off, far enough that nobody would hear them over the general clamour.

"I'm sorry, Issie," Lucy said again. "I should have realised at the start. I knew Eris was mean to you last year, but I was only thinking about the drama club. I should have been a better friend."

Issie was silent for a moment. She _had_ been hurt by how little notice Lucy had seemed to take of the whole thing, but she also knew how much the show meant to her. And she was not sure she'd ever heard Lucy admit she was wrong before.

"Was she really horrible?" Lucy asked, after a short pause.

"It was just… just stupid stuff," Issie said at last, trying hard to believe it herself – that it was all stupid and trivial. "Just the same stuff about me being a traitor and everything."

Lucy frowned. "Well that _is_ horrible," she insisted. "Look, Issie, I've been thinking." She paused for a moment and bit her lip. "If she's going to be like that, she shouldn't be in the club, or at least she shouldn't have the main part. We don't have to do the show before Christmas. We can put it off, and I can find someone else to be Juliet. And I don't mind telling her why we're doing it either. She can't talk to you like that and just get away with it."

Issie stared at her. She knew exactly how much Lucy had set her heart on performing the show this term, and how hard she had worked to make sure that it happened. It would be very difficult to find someone else, even if Professor Clearwater let them keep going with it when she heard that there had been arguments. And if Eris left, Lilith almost certainly would too, and possibly the other Slytherins as well. The show would be all spoilt. But Lucy was prepared to do that, just because Issie was upset.

"No." She shook her head. "Thanks, Lucy – honestly. Thanks for saying you'd do that. But it's not fair, not on you or on any of the others." She took another deep breath in. She had made her decision already. "I'll come and help out again. Just for the rehearsals where you need me, and for the show. And if you want to keep going next term, you don't have to kick her out. I'm not really into drama anyway – no, seriously, Lucy, it's not because I'm angry with you or anything, but I've got Quidditch as well. So Eris can stay and I'll just keep away. I'll come and watch all your shows though, I promise. And I can always help out with random stuff if you need me."

She looked anxiously at Lucy. She didn't want her decision to be misunderstood. Yes, it was mostly because she didn't want to be in the same room as Eris Montague, but it was nothing against Lucy or any of the others. It would hurt a bit, seeing all her friends being part of something she was not. But she had the Quidditch team that none of them were part of, and it was quite true that acting was not and never would be something she wanted to do.

Lucy's face had brightened when Issie had said she would come back, but her frown returned at the rest of Issie's speech. For a moment after Issie finished, she said nothing.

"Well, that's great, if you're sure you want to come back," she said at last. "It'll be way better with you there again. And Tilly's going to be happy." She hesitated. "We can think about next term later. It's up to you, obviously. But Eris won't say anything to you again – I'll make sure she doesn't."

Issie recognised the determination on Lucy's face, and knew that Eris would get no chance to pick on her in rehearsals again. And she was content, for now, to leave the discussion of next term until another time.

They went into breakfast together, and Lucy sat with them at the Gryffindor table.

* * *

Albus spotted Hugo in the library. That was a rare enough sight that it made him pause, and when he looked at Hugo properly, he was even more puzzled. He was sitting at a table, but he didn't appear to be working. He was sitting huddled over a single piece of parchment that Albus supposed _could _be a piece of homework, but if so then he was doing it without any reference books.

Quietly, Albus made his way between the bookshelves until he was just behind his cousin.

"Hey, Hugo," he said, his voice low enough not to attract attention in the library.

Hugo's head jerked round, and he swiftly turned the piece of parchment over before Albus had time to see what was written on it. Al's suspicions immediately increased a hundred percent. Hugo was up to something. But what?

"Oh, hey, Al." Hugo made a bad attempt to sound nonchalant.

"What's that?" Al matched Hugo's casual tone, and nodded his head at the parchment.

"Nothing. I mean, it's just... just something I'm working on." He hesitated for a moment, then looked up at Al. "Listen, if I tell you something, will you promise not to be annoyed with me?"

Albus narrowed his eyes. "I'm not promising anything. What have you done?"

"Nothing!" Hugo said again. "Well, I suppose... I have done something. But nothing very bad. I was trying to help!"

"Oh, Merlin, Hugo." Surely Hugo couldn't have done anything terrible. Could he? The way this year was going, Albus wasn't so sure.

"Look, you know what I was talking to you about the other day?" Hugo said, his words spilling out all in a rush. "About Lily and stuff. I know you said not to do anything, but it was my fault she went out with Zeke in the first place, and I only wanted to put things right..."

"Hugo," Al interrupted, pulling out a chair and sitting down opposite his cousin. He'd been intending to do some homework himself, but this was potentially more important. "What have you done?"

Hugo hesitated again, then slowly turned his piece of parchment over again and pushed it across the table. "That's what I was trying to do," he said in a small voice.

Albus read through Hugo's two step plan, and the crossed-out steps (still perfectly legible), and then read it again, thinking he must have missed something the first time.

"What the hell is this?" he said at last.

"I told you. That was my plan. I wanted to help Lily figure out if she really liked Malfoy or not..."

"You've written: 'Make Lily jealous'," Albus interrupted again. "Seriously, Hugo? That's your idea of helping? And what's all this stuff about Meri and Zeke - Zeke Lucas, I'm assuming?"

Hugo shifted in his seat, looking uncomfortable. "Yeah, well. That's the part that was kind of my fault. Last year I told Zeke he should ask Lily out - I mean, I practically persuaded him. I knew she'd say yes, and she did, only then it didn't work out, obviously. Only I never realised that Meri actually liked Zeke, so then I felt like shit because maybe if I hadn't done anything, he'd have got with Meri instead. So I wanted to sort of put that right."

Albus groaned and let the piece of parchment fall onto the table. "Oh, Merlin. This is exactly why I told you not to do anything. Why couldn't you just have listened to me? What happened, anyway? I take it it didn't all go according to plan."

He was almost inclined just to walk away and tell Hugo he'd have to deal with things himself. He really didn't want to be involved in this. Lucy's crises were bad enough, and anyway he didn't think Lily would be exactly pleased to have her other brother inserting himself into her business too, even if he was trying to help. On the other hand, if Hugo had done anything serious to upset Lily, he needed to be stopped before he made things worse.

"Not exactly," Hugo admitted. "I got Zeke to ask Meri out, but then he just told me this morning that Meri said no. Which makes no sense, because I _know_ Meri likes him. And then I tried telling Lily that Malfoy likes Meri, but she went and told Meri, and then Lily talked to Malfoy and they worked out it wasn't true, so now Lily thinks I was trying to stop her getting together with Malfoy, even though Malfoy says they're only friends. So if Lily does like him, I don't know what to do. Though he might have been lying, I suppose. But if he was, he's a really good liar. But now Lily and Meri know it was something to do with me, even though they don't know it was me who told Zeke to ask Meri out, and they hate me, and I don't know what to do."

Albus had tried to follow this spiel, but had got lost in among the recital of who had talked to who and said what and knew what.

"I haven't got a clue what you're talking about," he said, when Hugo paused for breath. "But it doesn't really matter. Are you trying to tell me you actually talked to _Malfoy_ about this?"

Scorpius Malfoy had always seemed to Albus to be very quiet and reserved, definitely not the type to talk about his personal feelings to someone two years younger than him, whom he barely knew. What on earth had Hugo been doing?

"I talked to him, but he wouldn't really talk to me," Hugo replied. "He thought I was trying to keep him away from Lily too, and he got pretty annoyed. But he did tell me him and Lily are just friends, because I pretended to think they were actually going out."

"Isn't that what Lily told you as well?" Albus asked.

"Well, yeah. But I think she was lying, because she was pretty upset when I told her that Malfoy liked Meri."

Albus rubbed his forehead with the palm of his hand, trying to think of what to say. Why were his relatives so completely hopeless at sorting out their own shit?

"Hugo, you need to stop all this crap," he said at last. "I mean it. You've just told me you've messed things up _twice_. And you're not going to be able to put things right when the problem in the first place was that you shouldn't even have been involved. You just need to back off and leave Lily alone – and Meri too. I'm sure they don't hate you, but they probably will if you keep playing games with their lives."

"I wasn't trying to play games," Hugo said. "Honestly, Al. I didn't mean to mess stuff up."

"Then just stay out of things that aren't your business!" Albus said, exasperated. "Lil's perfectly happy as far as I can tell, and whether she fancies Scorpius Malfoy or not, nothing you do is going to make any difference to that. You can't _make_ people interested in each other. You can't even force them together if they _are_ interested in each other. They'll work it out for themselves, and if they can't work it out, they'll get over it. By themselves."

There was a small silence.

"What d'you think I should do then?" Hugo asked at last.

"There's literally only one thing you should do," Albus said with all the firmness he could muster. "Apologise to Lily and Meri for not minding your own bloody business, and then mind it."

"Right." Hugo didn't sound altogether happy, and he was still fiddling with his quill instead of looking at Albus, but Al hoped that that was because he was regretting what he'd done and not relishing the idea of apologising, not because he was cooking up another disastrous plan.

"Honestly." Al sighed, speaking half to himself. "I feel like I'm babysitting our family this term. First James, then Lucy and her drama club fights, and now you and Lily."

Hugo looked up with a frown.

"James? What happened to James? Or d'you just mean him getting uptight about Lily and Malfoy?"

"Oh, it was nothing important," said Al hastily, realising too late that Hugo knew nothing about that, and that James probably wouldn't want him to. "He wanted me to help him with something and I wouldn't, that's all."

"Help him with what?" Hugo looked mystified.

"I told you, it was nothing important. And we literally just talked about you minding your own business, Hugo. If Lily doesn't need you to help her out with her life, Jamie _definitely_ doesn't."

* * *

Weylin Nott came into the Slytherin common room and made for a sofa near the fire. At the beginning of term he had avoided the common room, at least when he did not have Oscar and Titus with him. Not that he was exactly scared of people like Zeno Montague, he told himself, but there was no point in acquiring more bruises and hex marks than he had to. But things had calmed down a little in the last few weeks. He supposed that even Zeno was bound to get bored with the whole thing in the end.

Of course, things had not exactly calmed down in other areas. The argument that had apparently happened between Eris Montague and Iseult Malfoy had nothing to do with Weylin, of course. But the drama club appeared to be teetering on the point of falling apart, and Weylin was surprised at the realisation that he didn't want it to. In all the hell that was his life at the moment, it had been an escape and a distraction. After people like Finnigan and Magorian had got over the idea of having Slytherins in their precious group, nobody had really bothered about houses – they'd just got on with it. Lucy Weasley, despite who her family was, didn't appear to care what Weylin's parents had done, and the others had followed her lead. While he was there, he didn't have to think about the other stuff.

This was running through his head as he crossed the common room with his Defence Against the Dark Arts things in his arms, planning to make a start on his homework. The common room wasn't very full, but he was too busy balancing books to take any notice of who else was there, and didn't realise until he came round his selected sofa that it was already occupied by none other than Eris Montague herself.

He stopped and stared at her in some surprise. The reason he hadn't seen her was that she wasn't sitting on the sofa like a normal person, but was lying full length on it, peering over the arm at the other side of the common room.

He did not really want to hang out with Eris. For one thing, her family – her brother at any rate – had been among the most unpleasant to him. Zeno Montague had been someone Weylin vaguely considered a friend (although he had to admit he'd never liked Zeno all that much), but he'd dropped Weylin like a piece of rubbish to be thrown out, after Weylin's parents had been arrested. Eris hadn't been as bad, but he'd always found her a little annoying – she was overdramatic and liked attention and making scenes about things. And it was her liking for making scenes that was pulling the drama club apart. If only she hadn't decided to pick a fight with Iseult Malfoy, none of it would have happened.

On the other hand, he wasn't going to turn around and carry all his books somewhere else just because she was here.

"What are you doing?" he demanded instead.

She looked round at him.

"Ssh!" she hissed. "Get down – don't let them see we're looking at them!"

Weylin blinked at her. She was behaving even more weirdly than usual.

"What are you talking about? Looking at who?"

"For Merlin's _sake_! Look! What are they doing?"

Weylin looked in the direction she was indicating, to the group of students she must have been watching. He did not immediately see anything odd, although he did sit down as she had told him, perching on the sofa beside her and letting his books slide to the floor. One of the other students was his brother, Searle, who Weylin had been avoiding lately. Searle had never exactly been the friendliest brother, but since their parents had been arrested he had been angry all the time, and perfectly willing to take that out on Weylin. He seemed to take personal offence at the fact that Weylin had joined a drama group with people like Lucy Weasley, and lost no opportunity to sneer at him about it. Weylin was not looking forward to going to his Parkinson grandparents' for Christmas.

"They look like they're talking," he pointed out, in answer to Eris's question, although he had lowered his voice. They were too far away to hear him over the general low hum of talk in the room, of course, which also meant that he could not hear them, but he didn't want to attract Searle's attention.

Eris gave an impatient sigh. "Use your brain if you can, Weylin. Look who it is. Your brother, your sister, that Harper guy, Simon Vaisey, and…"

She let her voice trail off pointedly, and Weylin, looking across, realised with a click in his mind what she was talking about. Darius Harper was Searle's friend. So was Simon Vaisey, though he was the year below. Olivia Avery was another sixth-year. The rest of the group were fifth-years. A boy Weylin didn't know very well, although he thought his name was Greyson, and then three people he did know very well – his sister Ariadne, Desdemona Dimitar, and Sycorax Montague, Eris's sister.

Which was odd, since for one thing he didn't think Searle usually hung out with fifth-years, being a seventh-year himself. For another, although Sycorax hadn't made quite the big thing of it that Zeno had, there had been a definite cooling off of the friendship between her and Ariadne. And Searle was very definitely anti-Montague at the moment.

However, Weylin didn't think it was quite as fascinating as Eris seemed to. After all, why shouldn't they talk? He didn't have much interest in what Searle chose to talk to people about, or who he chose to talk to.

"So?" he said, after he had watched them for a moment. "Maybe Ariadne and your sister have made up. They're both still friends with Desdemona, aren't they?" Desdemona Dimitar, Ariadne's Quidditch team mate, had been juggling her friendships all term – everyone had been aware of it. And Ariadne and Sycorax had been much better friends than Weylin and Zeno - it would be surprising if that just disappeared overnight.

Eris rolled her eyes over her shoulder at him.

"Maybe they have. But why," she said with exaggerated patience, "would they be sitting with your brother and his friends? They never did that even before. _Plus_, Sycorax might make up with Ariadne, but I'm telling you, her hanging out with all that lot is _weird._ Searle, Ariadne, Olivia Avery. She's Lilith's cousin, and her dad got arrested. And Simon Vaisey – his dad's been questioned a bunch of times too. And my mum and dad have been pretty clear about us keeping away from all of you." A hint of bitterness tinged her voice. "Anyone would think they're scared the Aurors are going to find something on them. They were on about it all summer – how we had to keep ourselves out of it, not get involved with trouble, all the rest of it."

"Right, because hanging out with my brother and sister is obviously getting involved in trouble," Weylin snapped, annoyed by the inference.

"Well yeah, it kind of is." Eris shrugged and turned back to watching the little group. "Don't bite my head off – it's not _my_ fault. My parents don't want anyone saying stuff about us, that's all. And I'm just saying – they're obviously not just hanging around having a little chat. Look at them."

Weylin looked again. He had to admit that she was sort of right. They were all sitting in a little circle, leaning forwards, and their voices were low enough that he couldn't hear a sound from them, although they were obviously talking. They looked like people discussing something secret, and that thought made him very uneasy.

No, that was stupid. What could they possibly be discussing? It was Eris exaggerating things and making a big deal out of nothing as usual.

"See?" she demanded. "They're obviously up to something."

Weylin bent down to pick up one of his books, making an effort to appear totally unconcerned, something he'd got quite good at in the last few months.

"I bet they're not," he said. "What would they be up to?"

"I don't know." Eris scowled. "But I'm going to find out."


	12. Finding a Date

"Meri!"

Meri paused in the corridor and turned at the sound of her name, and then immediately wished that she had pretended not to hear and kept walking. However, it was too late now. Zeke had seen her turn round and came up beside her. He appeared to have been hurrying.

Meri folded her arms across her chest. "What?"

He looked at her, a slightly anxious frown on his face. "Listen, I know you're pissed off with me, but can I talk to you for a second?"

"Well, you obviously are talking to me. I have to get to Arithmancy though, so don't take too long." She had not spoken to Zeke since she had refused his invitation to go to the Yule Ball with him. And maybe she had been a little angrier on that occasion than she'd needed to be, but she thought she had had a right to be annoyed.

He glanced around them. There were other students in the corridor, but none of them were taking any notice. He lowered his voice.

"Meri, when I asked you to the ball… why did you think I did that?"

She sighed. "I _know_ why, Zeke. Hugo told me the whole thing."

And he had, in the end. He'd also apologised profusely. Lily had refused to forgive him, although Meri knew she would in the end. Meri herself hadn't known what to feel – she'd been hurt by the thought that both Zeke and Hugo had apparently seen it as okay to use her as a tool to make Lily jealous, but at the same time she couldn't bring herself to be particularly angry with Hugo. It wasn't as if she'd believed that either Zeke or Scorpius Malfoy actually fancied her (or wanted to believe it, at least as far as Malfoy was concerned), so it wasn't as if she was disappointed. And it was all so stupid and ridiculous, she mostly just wanted to forget about it. Forget about Zeke and move on from him, because she'd never be able to be Lily, would she? But forgetting about him

was quite difficult when he came running after her in the corridors.

"And you listened to Hugo Weasley?" Zeke said with some derision. "Well, you shouldn't. I did – twice. But I won't be again. He doesn't have a clue what he's talking about."

"Zeke, the entire thing was his idea," Meri pointed out. "Or are you trying to tell me that's not true?"

Zeke shrugged. "Well, he had an idea. And he convinced me you might actually say yes if I asked you. But he never actually stopped to listen to anything _I_ had to say…"

"I know what his idea was," Meri broke in impatiently. "Make Lily jealous by going to the ball with me. Because you both seemed to think I'd actually be that much of a bad friend." Hugo had also told her the other, more ludicrous, half of his plan – that by going to the ball with Meri, Zeke would decide he liked her instead. However she certainly wasn't about to tell Zeke that.

"And now _you're_ not stopping to listen to me," Zeke countered. "That was _Hugo's_ idea. Not mine."

She stared at him. "What d'you mean? What was your plan then? Just to hang out with me to get close to Lily again?"

"No." Zeke sighed. "I tried to tell you the last time we talked, but you didn't want to know then either. I don't fancy Lily any more. I swear," he added, as Meri's disbelief must have showed in her face. "I know she's not interested in me, and I'm over it. We were on and off the entire time anyway. I actually thought it would be nice to hang out with you for a night, because we used to be friends. We used to have fun together. I never really thought of asking you to the ball because I never thought you'd say yes, until Hugo suggested it. And then I thought maybe he was right and you _would_ say yes. Obviously I won't be making that mistake again."He smiled somewhat grimly.

Meri stared at him. He appeared to be totally genuine, and she _knew _Zeke. She didn't always like the way he acted – she certainly hadn't liked the way he'd treated her – but she was pretty sure he wouldn't stand there and lie to her face like that. Suddenly, insanely, she wanted to laugh. What a total mess the entire thing was.

"So, I'm guessing you won't have changed your mind, but now we've cleared that up, any chance you _would_ like to go to the ball with me?" he asked, meeting her gaze.

Meri opened her mouth and then closed it again. Her urge to laugh had disappeared as fast as it had come. Here it was. Zeke was asking her to the ball. Not to get close to Lily or to make her jealous, but because he wanted to go to the ball with Meri. Of course he wasn't asking her a date, just as a friend, but still. Wasn't it exactly what she'd dreamt of?

But he was Lily's ex-boyfriend, and he had used Meri in the past. She remembered what she'd said to Lily – that breaking up with someone and then asking their best friend out a couple of months later wasn't an acceptable thing to do. She still held to that. And she was on her way to getting over Zeke Lucas. However he meant it, going to the ball with him would undo any progress she'd made there, she knew it would.

She took a deep breath. "No, Zeke, I haven't changed my mind. I'm sorry," she said quietly.

He looked as if this was the answer he'd expected, although there was a flicker of something in his eyes. Disappointment? No, that was probably her own wishful thinking.

"Right," he said. "I mean, I thought you probably wouldn't, after what you said…"

"It's not that I don't want to be friends with you or anything," she broke in, speaking hurriedly. "Or that I don't believe you. I'm glad you told me – so thank you. But Lily's my best friend, and you guys went out. I can't just forget that."

"Right," he said again, and gave her a small smile. "I get that. And Meri… I'm sorry I kind of screwed things up with us. You were right – I _did_ hang out with you because I wanted to get to know Lily. It wasn't that I didn't want to keep being friends with you. I just… I didn't think, I suppose."

"Well, next time you fancy one of my friends, try just telling me," she said, trying – and more or less succeeding – to laugh.

He also laughed, although he didn't sound like he entirely meant it either. "Yeah, well if that ever happens, I promise I will."

"I have to go to Arithmancy," she said, after a very small pause. It was true - she did have to go, or she was going to be late. But she also wanted to get away from him.

He nodded. "Yeah, right. See you around then, I guess?"

"Yeah, see you around, Zeke." She was already turning away. She felt like crying; in fact, there were tears prickling the backs of her eyelids. Why were things so unfair?

She came into her lesson as everyone else was settling themselves and getting their books out. The tears had been forced back and she hoped that she looked normal, but she didn't feel it. Everything was spinning round inside her. For so long she'd dreamt about Zeke asking her out, and now he had and she'd had to say no. Twice, in fact.

She knew she'd done the right thing, though. She knew, really, that she didn't want to go to the ball with him under these circumstances - under any circumstances really, unless you could erase the fact that he'd been out with Lily.

But it was hard to feel that as well as know it. Especially since she had approximately zero other options for dates to the ball, despite Lily's promise to find her one.

Her mood was not improved when she realised that the only spare seat in the classroom was beside Hugo Weasley. They often sat together in Arithmancy - it was a small class, as it wasn't a very popular subject, and none of their other close friends took it. But just now, although she wasn't as annoyed with him as Lily was, he wasn't really the person she wanted to talk to.

However, with little other choice, she slumped into the seat beside him. Even without looking properly at him, she could feel his worried gaze on her.

"Hey, Meri," he said, and it almost sounded like a question.

Being angry with him would take more effort than she could be bothered with at the moment. She pulled out her text book and turned to look at him.

"Hey, Hugo," she said with a sigh.

He looked nervously at her. "Are you... um..."

"I'm not still pissed off with you." She answered what she assumed was his question with resignation. "Well, okay, I am a bit. But it's not really a big deal."

After all, what Hugo had done hadn't really made any big difference to anything. Lily was still going to the ball with Scorpius Malfoy, and Meri was still going with nobody.

"Well, I s'pose," Hugo agreed, still watching her. "I mean, you'd have the right to still be pissed off with me. I know I shouldn't have dragged you into it."

"You shouldn't have done it at all," she pointed out.

"I know. I honestly am sorry, Mer. I just wanted to help."

"Yeah, so you've said. Lily's the one you need to convince, though, not me. Seriously, Hugo. I'm not that upset about it."

"Are you sure?" Hugo persisted. "I mean... you're looking kind of upset?"

Meri closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again. "Yeah well, that's not... I'm not upset with _you_."

Who was she upset with? Nobody, really. Not even Zeke. She just wished the whole situation didn't exist.

"Why, what's happened?" Hugo looked even more concerned if anything. "Is everything okay?"

"Don't worry about it, Hugo." She tried to smile, and wasn't quite as successful as she had been with Zeke. "It's all just got really complicated. Well, it isn't even complicated, not really. I just talked to Zeke again," she admitted.

"Oh." Hugo was silent for a few moments. "What about? I mean," he went on, "you don't have to tell me, obviously."

"I just don't really want to talk about it," she said, flipping open her book for no better reason than so that she didn't have to look at him, since Professor Sewell hadn't even arrived yet.

There was another pause. She could feel his eyes on her.

"I _was _right, wasn't I?" Hugo asked at last. "I mean, about you... you know. Liking Zeke."

Meri felt her face burning. There didn't seem much point in denying it though.

"How did you even work that out?" she mumbled. She thought she'd hidden it very well. Lily certainly hadn't known - didn't even know now, for that matter. She thought the whole thing was Hugo's ludicrous invention. And Zeke hadn't guessed, of course.

"Well, I overheard you talking to him one time, and I thought it was pretty obvious," Hugo said. "Not obvious to him, I don't mean. At least, I don't think so. But obvious to me."

Meri turned and stared at him, almost forgetting her embarrassment.

"When did you hear me talking to him? You can't have. I've hardly spoken to him since him and Lily broke up that last time. I barely even spoke to him while they were still going out."

"Oh, I can't remember." Now it was Hugo evading her eyes in a way she found very suspicious. "It was probably a while ago."

Meri frowned at him. She didn't believe for a moment that he couldn't remember, although she also wasn't sure why it was something to hide. What conversation _could _he have overheard?

"Anyway." Hugo spoke hastily. "I don't get it, Mer. _Why _did you say no to him, if you like him? I mean, why not just go to the ball with him? Or are you going with someone else?" he added.

"Merlin, Hugo!" Meri felt that she was losing patience with the conversation - not that she'd had much to begin with. "It's not because I'm going with someone else - which I'm not. He's Lily's ex-boyfriend! And I don't care how many times they broke up or how many other people Lil went out with in between, I'm still not going to go on a date with him. Even just as friends. I'd rather go to the ball by myself."

"I never thought about it like that," he admitted.

"Did you even think at all?" she snapped, then stopped and took a deep breath. "Look, Hugo, can we just not talk about it? I just want to forget about Zeke." She felt somewhat desperate. How could she get Hugo to shut up about it?

The door opened and Professor Sewell appeared. Hugo lowered his voice.

"You could still have gone to the ball with him and given him a chance, couldn't you?" he said. "I mean, Lily can't complain - she's going with Malfoy."

Professor Sewell's deep voice talked over him. "Page two hundred and four, please. We'll be continuing to look at the history of Aramaic methods of arithmancy..."

His chalk began to write on the board as he talked, and the class busied itself finding pages, quills and parchment. Under cover of the noise, Meri turned back to Hugo.

"That's not the point. I'm not going to the ball with him, Hugo - end of story. Now can we please just concentrate on arithmancy?"

"Okay, okay." Hugo nodded. "But hey, listen, Meri - who _are _you going with?"

"I told you, I'm not going with anyone," she whispered, exasperated.

"Mr Weasley, Miss Hewitt, I hate to interrupt your private conversation, but is there any way I could have your attention?" Professor Sewell broke in, glaring at them both.

Meri turned away from Hugo and towards her teacher. "Yes, sorry, sir," she said meekly, searching her book for the correct page.

Professor Sewell continued his introduction to the lesson. Meri found her page and picked up her quill, ready to take notes. Arithmancy. That was all she needed to think about. Not Hugo or Zeke,

or even Lily right at the moment - just the fact that OWLs were in the summer, and she intended to do as well as she possibly could in them.

"I don't mean as a date." Hugo's voice hissed in her ear. "I just mean, who are going to hang out with there?"

_Gematria_, Meri wrote, and underlined the word, trying to focus on what Sewell was saying.

"I don't know," she muttered, as quietly as she could. "I haven't thought about it." Actually, the answer was: probably nobody. Lily was going with Malfoy, and Claire and Freya both had dates as well. She was tempted not to bother going at all.

"Well, I'm not going with anyone either," Hugo whispered. "And Rufus and Ninian are going with each other, so..."

"They are?" Meri almost forgot about arithmancy at this piece of news, and turned to stare at Hugo. "You mean, as an actual date? I thought they were still denying they even like each other. Rufus isn't even out to most of the school," she added, as this thought occurred to her.

Hugo shrugged. "Yeah, well. He obviously decided this was a good opportunity to let everyone know. They're still saying they're only friends, but it's pretty obviously an actual date. Which means I'm not going to tag along like a third wheel. So, y'know, we can always hang out together if you want. Unless you secretly do hate me, which would mean you probably wouldn't want to, but if you actually meant it that you aren't still pissed off..."

"Mr Weasley,_" _Professor Sewell interrupted. "Can you repeat what I've just told the class, please?"

Hugo blinked at him, his face a blank. Meri had no more idea than he did what Professor Sewell had just said, but luckily for her it had been Hugo who'd been caught talking, and Hugo who had all Sewell's attention.

"Take notes on page two hundred and two," Professor Sewell repeated grimly. "And then use the method described to complete the number tables given on the following page. Got it now?"

"Yes, sir," Hugo said, picking up his quill obediently.

Professor Sewell moved on. Meri was still staring at Hugo.

"Hugo, did you just ask me to the ball?" she asked. Again, she wanted to laugh, except that her amusement was genuine this time.

Hugo looked startled, then panicked. "Oh! Well, yeah, I mean, I suppose... I didn't mean... Not like _that_."

"I know." She laughed, taking pity on him. "Don't worry, I got it."

And really, there were worse options. Hugo could sometimes make you want to hit him on the head with something solid, and she was still annoyed with him, but in general he wasn't bad company. They were pretty good friends, part of the same loose crowd who always hung out with each other, and apparently they were the only members of that crowd who weren't already going with someone.

"Yeah, okay then," she said with a shrug. "I'm good with that."

"Oh." He looked vaguely surprised, then relieved. "Right, okay. That's cool. I mean, at least we'll both have someone to hang around with now. I wouldn't want to go to the Yule Ball with someone as a date anyway - can you imagine how awkward it would be if that was your first date?"

Meri's amusement broke into a smile, and she too realised that she was relieved - relieved to be able to laugh at Hugo's nonsense instead of feeling bad over Zeke. Hugo grinned back at her.

"We can spy on them all," he suggested cheerfully. "By the way, do _you _think Lily likes Malfoy?"

"_Weasley_!" Professor Sewell thundered before Meri had a chance to reply. "If I hear your voice again, that'll be five points from Hufflepuff!"

* * *

"You're _WHAT?_" Lily almost shrieked.

"I'm not going _with _him," Meri hastened to explain. "I mean, not _with him_, with him. But literally all our friends are already going with someone, so it makes sense for us to hang around together, that's all."

"No, it doesn't - not after what he did!" Lily protested. "Anyway, I was going to find you a proper date," she added reproachfully.

"Yeah, well, I don't really want a proper date." Meri sighed. "I thought you'd get that - you keep telling me you and Malfoy are only going as friends, and you said back at the start of term that you didn't want a boyfriend at all this year."

"No, I don't want one. And I do get it," Lily replied. "But you could do better than _Hugo_, Mer! Isn't there anyone you'd actually want to go with?"

Meri took a deep breath. She'd had enough of secrets. "Lil, please don't hate me. But saying no to Zeke was just about the hardest thing I've ever done. So now I just... I just want to go with someone I can relax with and don't need to stress over. Someone who's my actual friend and I know isn't trying to use me."

Lily stared at her, and Meri began to wish she hadn't said anything. What was the point, after all? Nothing was going to change.

"What d'you mean?" Lily said slowly. "Why was it hard? Did you... did you _want _to go with him?"

"No, not really," Meri said with perfect honesty. "Not by then. But... last year, I would have wanted to. And I suppose part of me still sort of did. I'm sorry," she added miserably. "I never meant to like your boyfriend, but I liked him ages ago, and I never said anything because it was obviously you he was interested in, and..."

"Meri!" Lily looked aghast. "Mer, you should have _told _me!"

"It wouldn't have made any difference," Meri mumbled. "It doesn't matter, Lily, honestly. I'm over it. It's just, you know, you can't just get over something all in one go. But I wouldn't go with him now - not after everything. Honestly, I'd much rather go and hang out with Hugo, and actually maybe have some fun."

Lily was still looking upset. "Oh, Mer, I'm so sorry. I'd never have gone out with him if I'd known."

"I know you wouldn't." Meri tried to laugh. "I don't want you to feel bad, Lil, seriously. It's all over and in the past, and I don't even really want to talk about it. Hugo's just spent all lesson trying to get me to, so don't you start too."

"Okay," Lily agreed reluctantly. "I won't, if you don't want to. But next time you fancy someone, you have to tell me, all right? That's what best friends are for!"

Meri did laugh that time, hearing Lily repeat more or less what she'd told Zeke a couple of hours before. She wasn't going to tell Lily about that conversation - it made no difference to anything.

"All right, I will. So long as you tell me things too. And that means you can start by telling me exactly how you feel about Scorpius Malfoy, because Hugo's still convinced you fancy the pants off him..."

* * *

"We could get into a lot of trouble," Sycorax Montague stated, folding her arms and looking around the small assembled group. "Serious trouble. Why would we want to do that?"

"Why would we want to do it at all?" Ariadne Nott said nervously. "Sorry, Searle. I just don't get what the point is, really."

Her brother Searle glowered at them both, and several other members of the group exchanged significant glances.

"The point? Come on, Ari. The entire school's been treating us like scum all term. Like the League's some gang of criminals and none of them were _anything _to do with it."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought that was exactly what the League was," Sycorax said. "I mean, they literally broke the law and got banged up in prison..."

"_They_?" Searle snarled. "You'd better watch what you're saying. For one thing, that's our parents you're talking about. For another, your family was right in the middle of it - you just never got caught."

"My parents had no idea what was really going on. They thought it was a political pressure group, that was all. Nobody told them anything about attacks on Muggle villages," Sycorax retorted.

"Yeah, right," Olivia Avery muttered under her breath.

Sycorax turned to glare at her, but Searle spoke again before she could.

"I don't give a toss what your parents thought, to be honest, Montague. But I remember what _you _were saying, last year. You were all for it, as much as anyone - going back to the old ways, protecting purebloods, you even supported lifting the regulations on the dark arts."

"Yeah, wasn't it you who said we ought to be taught the dark arts alongside everything else?" Simon Vaisey remarked with a smirk. "To _balance things out_."

Sycorax flushed red, but she scowled at them. "I don't remember saying that. But I don't get what your point is, anyway. I might believe in some of what the League was saying, but it doesn't mean I want to end up in Azkaban. Or expelled."

"We're not exactly going to be expelled for this," Olivia said. "Even if we get caught."

"Which we won't," added Darius Harper, who had been silent up to that point. "I don't know why you're so worried, Montague. It's harmless. All we're doing is making a point. Even if they know it's us, they won't be able to prove anything. And if anyone gets suspected, it won't be you, after all the mouthing off your little brother's been doing."

"Oh, forget it, Darius," Searle said contemptuously. "If she's too scared, who cares? Thought it was worth seeing if she wanted back in, but it looks like she wants to chicken out just like the rest of her family. That's fine - but if you tell anyone anything about this, Montague, I swear we'll make you wish you'd never been born." His voice was level, but with a menacing threat in it. "And you know I'd do it, too."

Sycorax met his gaze, but some of her bravado had faded, and she swallowed and didn't reply.

"Searle, stop it," Ariadne said quietly. "Don't be horrible."

"And what about you?" Searle rounded on his sister. "Are you scared too, or are you going to stick with the family?"

"Of course I'm going to stick with the family. That doesn't mean I'm going to join in with some pointless plan you want to bully us all into," Ariadne replied with some heat.

The rest of the group stared at her, startled. Ariadne Nott was usually indecisive and easily pushed around, and nobody had expected her to take a stand.

Searle's expression, after a moment of surprise, turned dark. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Ariadne looked frightened, but stuck to her point.

"It means you're being mean to my friend! And it's not as if doing this is going to help anything - not the League, or Mum and Dad. I'm not even actually sure I _do _believe in everything the League was doing..."

"You don't believe in anything," Searle sneered. "Because you haven't got the brains to have any thoughts about things. So you'd better just shut up. Montague, if you're not going to do it, then piss off and let the rest of us get on with it."

Sycorax half got up from her seat on a common room sofa, then sank back down again, looking conflicted.

It was Ariadne who stood up.

"Come on, then, Cora," she said, not looking at Searle. "And you, Desdie. Unless you want to stay. It's up to you, obviously."

"Oh, come on, Ari," Olivia protested. "Don't go off on one just because of Searle - he's just being a twat. Ignore him!"

"No, I think Ariadne's right," Desdemona Dimitar piped up, also rising from her seat. "I know you only even included me because I'm friends with Ari and Cora, but I don't think any of you should do it - you're just going to get into trouble. Even Xanthe said..."

"Xanthe Derrick says a lot of things," Searle said flatly. "Most of them are bullshit. But there we go - she's another one who decided not to stick by her old friends..."

"She stuck by me," Ariadne retorted. "When people wanted her to kick me off the Quidditch team, she wouldn't. Anyway, that's not the point. The point is, I don't want to do it. Don't worry," she added, "I won't tell anyone it was you - you know I won't. But I'm not going to join in. I don't want people to hate me any more than they already do!"

With that, she turned on her heel and marched away from them. Desdemona followed her, and after a small hesitation, so did Sycorax. Most of the older students in the group looked at Searle to see what he would do with this abandonment by his own sister, but Searle merely scowled blackly after her for a moment, then turned away.

"Whatever," he growled. "We can do it better without kids like them anyway. Assuming all the rest of you are still in..."

* * *

Eris appeared from behind a chair and grabbed her sister's arm as she, Ariadne and Desdemona crossed the common room.

"_What_?" Sycorax snapped, pulling her arm away.

"What was all that about?" Eris demanded. "What were you talking about with them?"

Sycorax narrowed her eyes. "Were you listening?"

"No. I couldn't have anyway - I was all the way over here. I just want to know what's going on." She cast a suspicious look at Ariadne, who glared at her.

"Well, it's none of your business." Sycorax pushed her away. "And it's nothing you need to worry about. In fact, you should keep the hell out of it if you want to stay out of trouble. It's nothing to do with you. Go back to your stupid acting."

She, Ariadne and Desdemona disappeared together in the direction of their dormitory. On the other side of the room, far enough away from everyone that they wouldn't be overheard, the remaining conspirators had their heads together, taking no notice of the little encounter between the Montague sisters.

In the middle of the common room, Eris stood for a few moments, her eyes narrowed, looking first at the point where Sycorax and the others had disappeared from sight, and then back at the rest of them.

One way or another, she meant to find out what was going on.


	13. The Yule Ball

Albus could not help being glad that this term was almost over. Not that it had been a terrible term, if you looked at it in perspective. He had made a reasonable start as Head Boy – Professor Clearwater seemed pleased with both him and Farah. He had, he supposed, been able to help out a bit with Lucy's problems, and he had heard no more from either Hugo or Lily, which he assumed meant that that situation had calmed down. And, on the more personal front, he was on his way back to being friends with Sapphie, which was a good feeling.

Now all they needed was to get the Yule Ball over without anything going wrong, sit through Lucy's play (he was expecting it to be amusing, and only hoped he wouldn't need to suffer too much secondhand embarrassment), and they'd be off home for Christmas. It would be a nice break, even though there would likely be ructions between James and Lily, thanks to her choice of a date. Perhaps next term, everyone would have got all the difficulties out of their systems, and he could focus on preparations for NEWTs. He had applied for a training placement at St Mungo's, which meant that he needed to do well.

The Gryffindor seventh-years had, in the end, decided to attend the Yule Ball as a group, at least those of them who did not have boyfriends or girlfriends. After all, as Rose had pointed out, if you excluded ordinary things like Quidditch matches, this was the last big school event they would attend.

Albus had greeted this idea with immense relief. Finding himself a date had not been anywhere on his list of priorities, and now the pressure was completely off. Of course, Sapphie was going to be part of the group, which might be a little awkward, but at the same time he was quite pleased at the chance to hang around with her in an ordinary, friendly way, without talking about any of the difficult things. So he was feeling almost cheerful as he made his way downstairs with the others on the night of the ball./p  
He and Farah had had quite a lot of input into plans for the ball, so he knew in advance what the great hall would look like, but he had to admit that the teachers done a good job of it. It was decked out in gold and silver, with fake snow falling from the ceiling, which vanished before it touched anything.

They all entered together – Rose in front with Helena Green and Emmy Brooke, Albus and Gareth bringing up the rear, and everyone else in a group in the middle. Zeke was with them, and not looking too devastated, Al noted, that he was not with Lily. He could not see his sister in the hall yet, but he knew she was coming with Scorpius Malfoy. He was not sure how much of the rest of the school knew that yet, but unfortunately it was probably going to be a hot gossip topic by the end of the night.

"It looks great, Al!"

He looked round to find Sapphie right beside him, smiling at him. She looked – unsurprisingly – very lovely, in a blue-green dress, with her hair down for once, in a cloud of black curls round her head, and her brown eyes glowing.

"Well, I can't take much credit," he said, smiling back. "Décor's not really my thing."

"Come on!" Rose declared at the front of the group. "Let's bag this table for the night!"

Albus found himself sitting down opposite her, with Sapphie beside him. Rose had elected not to wear a dress at all, and was in something that most closely resembled a Muggle suit, except that the jacket was dark red corduroy, and she was wearing dragon hide boots in the same colour. Albus admired her choices, even though his own dress robes were much more traditional.

At the other side of the hall, the band – a popular new wizarding band, which had been Al's idea – was starting up, although nobody was on the dance floor yet. Farah, over by the drinks tables with her Ravenclaw boyfriend, gave him a wave.

"Anyone want drinks?" Gareth asked. "I'll go and grab some before I sit down, if you want?"

Most people did, and Gareth disappeared with Helena and Seb Graves to fetch them.

"Well, time to watch all the disastrous dates," Rose remarked, looking past Al and Sapphie at the room, which was quickly filling up with students.

Sapphie laughed. "Not all dates are disastrous, you know, Rosie."

"No, but they're mostly pretty awkward at the very least," Rose retorted. "Especially when they're a bunch of sweaty fifteen-year-olds trying to be smooth."

Albus couldn't help laughing himself, but as he did, Rose's eyes narrowed.

"Well, _there's_ one I wasn't expecting. Wonder how he managed that."

Albus twisted in his seat and scanned the crowds for whoever had caught her eye. His gaze lit upon Rose's younger brother, who was with Meri Hewitt. Al stared for a moment, then chuckled.

"Well, that's one way of sorting an awkward situation out, I suppose."

"What awkward situation?" Rose asked suspiciously.

"Nothing," Albus replied. "Never mind. I'll tell you later," he added, as Rose looked like persisting with the questions. Zeke was at the other end of their table and in the middle of a conversation with Richard Sheldrake, but still. No need to draw attention to the whole thing.

"Well," Rose satisfied herself with, "Meri needs to up her standards. I wonder if they're actually going out – that would be hilarious, though I can't imagine it lasting long. Meri's got more sense than that. Who's Lily coming with, by the way?"

Albus cast another glance at Zeke, and Rose followed his eyes. Zeke and Lily's involvement, at least, was public knowledge, and Rose knew all about it. She lowered her voice.

"Well, if she's not with Meri, she's obviously got a date. And Zeke's with us, so…" Her voice tailed off and her mouth fell open.

Albus looked round again, and sure enough, there was Lily just coming in through the door with Scorpius Malfoy. He turned back to the table.

"Well, there's your answer," he remarked.

Rose stared at him. "Did you know?"

Al shrugged. "Yeah. It's none of my business, though."

"No, I suppose it's not," Rose agreed slowly. She did not sound best pleased, and Al wasn't surprised. She had never much liked Scorpius Malfoy either.

"Or yours," Sapphie put in.

Rose glared at her. "I never said it was. Do I look like I'm jumping up to interfere? I'm not James. Still, I'd like to know what she thinks she's doing."

"Pissing Jamie off, for one thing," Albus suggested. He didn't think that Lily would go to the ball with Malfoy if she didn't like him, no matter what other reasons she might have for it, but he wouldn't be at all surprised if the fact that it would annoy their older brother was not something of a bonus in Lily's eyes, at the very least.

Rose looked amused. "D'you think Lily would really do that? Personally, I don't think it'd occur to her."

Albus considered this. "I think it would. Especially the way James has been on at her. She's got a pretty devious streak, even if she's not very good at being subtle about it."

"Has he been on at her? I didn't know. You'd have thought he'd have better things to worry about now he's out in the real world. But then, I don't think Jamie'll ever really grow up."

Rose glanced at Sapphie, with an expression Albus couldn't entirely read, although it brought back with a rush the thing that he had almost forgotten, which was that James was the reason he and Sapphie had broken up. He assumed that this was also what was in Rose's mind, and, as he too shot a look at Sapphie, he didn't think she had forgotten it either. She was staring at the table, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"You know, they won't be able to carry all our drinks by themselves," said Rose, looking over at where Gareth, Seb and Helena had only just reached the front of the queue at the drinks table. She stood up abruptly. "I'll go and give them a hand."

Albus wasn't sure whether Rose had really just been distracted by the thought of their drinks, or whether she had wanted to end the conversation for the sake of saving awkwardness, or whether she intended to leave him and Sapphie essentially alone together. Whatever her motives, the result was the same.

"Good for you, Al. I'm glad you're not being stupid about Lily and Malfoy," Sapphie said, as Rose disappeared.

He looked at her, a little surprised.

"Well, it doesn't exactly take much effort to just not be a dick," he said with a laugh.

She also laughed. "Not for you, maybe."

He raised his eyebrows. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"Good. Because it was meant to be one."

She was looking at him in a way that made his stomach do strange things, and he cursed himself inwardly. Would he never be able just to be ordinary and friendly with Sapphie Jordan? Then again, was the expression in her eyes exactly ordinary and friendly?

"Butterbeer!" Gareth's voice announced, and the drink was dumped on the table in front of Albus.

There was a crowd around them again, chatting and laughing. Albus chanced another look at Sapphie. She caught his eye and smiled, and he found himself smiling back, before he realised what he was doing and hastily took a drink of butterbeer. He refused to look at Rose.

* * *

The evening was wearing on. The dance floor was full, and Lily had been dancing for a while, but her heels were high and her feet were getting sore, so she was quite pleased when Scorpius suggested they sit down for a bit and get something to drink. She had been mildly surprised to find that he was a good dancer - she hadn't thought it would be the sort of thing he liked. Then again, perhaps he was only pretending to like it because she did. The thought caused her a pang of guilt.

They got goblets of pumpkin juice from the drinks table. There was nothing stronger than butterbeer, of course - the teachers had been very vigilant - but Lily didn't mind that. She had been drunk a couple of times in her sixteen years; the second time had been quite fun, but the first she had ended up vomiting into a toilet while Meri held her hair back, and she didn't really want to repeat that tonight.

"D'you like dancing?" she asked him, as they found a couple of seats. She did not really know much about him, what he liked and what he didn't, and that, she felt, was something she should put right.

He shrugged. "Sometimes."

She frowned, still wondering whether he had just been humouring her. He turned and looked at her, and smiled.

"I mean, tonight it's been pretty fun."

"Oh." She relaxed. "Good. You're a better dancer than me," she added. "I never thought you would be."

He laughed, and she realised that that could be taken as slightly rude.

"I mean, I didn't think you _wouldn't_ be," she clarified hastily. "I just never saw you dancing, or y'know, anything like that."

"No, well you wouldn't," he agreed. "We've never really been together at the sort of place there's dancing, have we?"

"Apart from in Kilmary last year," she said. "But we never got a chance to do any dancing there."

"No."

He frowned, as if the memory of that night was not very comfortable. Which, of course, it wasn't, but it had all ended all right, and he hadn't seemed to mind talking about it last time they had brought it up.

"D'you go out in the holidays then? I mean, you know, parties and bars and stuff. Since you're old enough to do it legally and everything." She smiled at him, hoping to divert the conversation.

It worked, more or less; his frown disappeared.

"Well, no, not really," he replied. "I mean, I've been for a drink with Danny and Calypso a few times, but not that often. Cal's parents are pretty strict, for one thing. And most parties aren't really my scene."

Lily, who loved parties, couldn't help feeling very slightly disappointed. "You've got friends at home too, though, right?" she asked. "I mean, there was that Muggle girl we met. Do you hang out with her friends too?" She was not entirely sure of the precise nature of Scorpius's relationship with the Muggle girl. She'd got the impression that they _were_ only friends, but it was an odd sort of friendship. For one thing, how had someone from a well-known Pureblood family managed to meet a Muggle in the first place?

"Yeah, sometimes." His frown was back, and she wasn't sure why. "That can be complicated, though, because you have to be eighteen to go into bars or anything in the Muggle world."

"Oh, yes."

He'd been fine when they were dancing, and he didn't seem annoyed with her, but something was definitely wrong. Had she somehow touched a sore spot without knowing it?

She went on more doubtfully: "Aren't you eighteen now though?"

"Yeah, in September. But I wasn't, last time I was at home, and Hazel isn't yet, and nor are half her friends. Not that a lot of them don't go anyway, but still. I don't even have Muggle ID."

Lily laughed. "You can get hold of that, you know. James has got one. Actually, though, I think he had it before he was eighteen. Which means it probably isn't real. But you can get them!"

Her laugh died because his frown had deepened. This time, though, the reason was obvious. She was beginning to get very tired of James and Scorpius's feud, but she didn't know what to do about it.

"I wish you and James would stop hating each other," she said, after a pause.

He looked at her with a startled expression, which became a wary one.

"Look, I'm not going to say anything about that. He's your brother."

Lily shrugged. "Well, you're welcome to say he's a total prat, because I know that. But he's not a completely terrible person, underneath."

Scorpius laughed, somewhat grimly.

"I'll take your word for it."

"I wish you actually would take my word for it," she said, with genuine feeling. "I mean, I know he's been a twat to you, so I'm not expecting you to like him or anything, but I wish you'd both get it into your heads that neither of you's as bad as you think. I mean, as the other one thinks. I mean – well, you get what I mean."

"Yeah, I do get what you mean." Scorpius sounded a little surprised. "Honestly though, I never had a problem with him until he had one with me. I'd have been totally happy to avoid him and never talk to him. I still am."

She sighed. "I know. I'm sorry – I know he's the one who always starts it. He's not very good at just letting things go. I just don't see why you two not liking each other has to affect me. Who Jamie likes shouldn't stop me from being friends with whoever I want, should it? I'm not James – I'm me, and I can make my own mind up about people."

"I take it he's been on at you about tonight, then?" he asked.

"He doesn't know about tonight," she replied. "But he knows we went to Hogsmeade together, and that was bad enough. And I know he's going to make a fuss when he does hear about this, and it's stupid. He doesn't have any right to make a fuss about who I hang out with."

There was a short pause before he answered.

"No, I suppose he doesn't."

He sounded a little unsure, and she shot a puzzled glance at him.

"D'you think he does?"

"No. No, of course not." This time the answer came more quickly, and sounded more certain. "But I mean, if it's going to make things difficult with your family…"

"It's not," she broke in. "It's literally only Jamie, and I don't care what he thinks. Anyway, it's not as if we…" She stopped, feeling suddenly uncomfortable with continuing. They had never really had a conversation about what they were doing and what they wanted. She risked another glance at him, and he was looking at her.

"Not as if we what?" he asked at last.

She glanced around. They were the only people at their table, and nobody was really within earshot, what with the music playing and the general noise. It didn't seem like quite the right time to talk about this, but the subject was broached now. If they didn't talk about it now, when would they?

"Well, I don't know," she admitted at last.

It was the truth. Everyone kept asking her, from James to Meri and Hugo, what she really felt about Scorpius Malfoy, as if it was some big secret she was keeping. But the simple answer was that she didn't have a clue.

"Look, Lily," he said, "I know this is weird, because of everyone talking about us and everything. I mean, it would have been kind of nice if we could just have hung out and got to know each other and been friends without the entire school deciding we're going out, and then we wouldn't even have needed to talk about it, but that didn't happen. So I just… well, I guess I'm asking what you think this is? I mean, you're the one who asked me to come tonight. As friends."

"I wish we could have done that too," Lily said in a small voice. "Then it wouldn't need to be complicated. I hate complicated stuff. I mean, I like you, Scorpius. I like you as a friend, and maybe more, but I… I don't know about any of the rest. And I don't… I don't want a boyfriend. I just want to hang out with people I like…"

"Well, does it have to be complicated?" he demanded, and a smile was tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I mean, you just basically described how I feel as well. I think you're great, and I also think you're really pretty, and that's actually the only time I've told a girl that so now I'm feeling kind of awkward." He paused to take a breath, and his words, which had started coming out fairly fast, slowed back down to normal as he continued. "But I don't really want to jump into a relationship or anything either – and, no offence, but you're also two years younger than me, and I don't know how I feel about that. So why don't we just do what we both want to do and not let anyone else pressure us about it?"

For a moment, she looked at him, trying to work out how much of what he said he actually meant, and how she felt about it. A whole mixture of emotions was swirling about inside her, and she didn't know how to identify them all. Part of her knew that she could like him, quite a lot, if she let herself. But most of her would really rather keep him as a friend and leave aside anything more confusing. And the feeling that was gradually rising above the rest was relief.

She smiled.

"Yes, I like that idea. Let's be friends. Plus," she said, her smile growing a little, "I'm pretty sure that'll annoy Jamie even more, because he won't know what's going on with us, and he hates not knowing what's going on."

Scorpius tilted his head at her.

"Are you actually trying to make him annoyed?"

"Nooo," she said slowly. That was also true - it had been part of her motivation behind asking him in the first place, but she was no longer as angry with her brother, and anyway she was enjoying being with Scorpius for his own sake, so really, what James thought had become irrelevant. But still...

"It kind of serves him right if I do, though," she added.

Scorpius looked at her for a moment, then suddenly laughed.

"Yeah, I suppose it does - so long as he doesn't decide to hunt me down and murder me."

* * *

They seemed to have drifted away from the rest of the group, and Albus was quite glad. He was enjoying being with Sapphie, laughing with her, looking at her, and he didn't want to feel that people like Gareth or Rose were watching them. They had also drifted to the edge of the dance floor, where the room became shadowed. Sapphie smiled up at him, and they were very close to each other. They had been dancing, but now they had come a halt, standing facing each other. For a moment, neither of them moved.

He hadn't felt like this since he'd been with her. This dizziness sense of rightness, the world a beautiful place. But there was a new feeling too. A recklessness of the sort Al was usually careful to keep under control. He'd let it take over the day he asked Sapphie out, and at the time he'd felt that that had been the bravest act of his life so far. To let himself go now would take even more courage, and he wasn't sure he had it.

"Albus," she said, and she was no longer smiling. "Do you… do you think you'll ever be able to forgive me for what I did?"

He blinked at her. "I already have," he replied, and it was the truth. He had not felt angry about it for a long time.

"Really?" She looked half hopeful and half disbelieving.

"Yes. I mean it. Question is, have you forgiven me for the things I said before that?"

"Yes," she replied simply. "It wasn't really what you said I couldn't forgive you for. Though I _was_ angry about that. But it was just that you... you were always too perfect for me to keep up with you, you know? I make stupid mistakes, and you never do."

He stared at her in pure astonishment. "Sapphie, what are you talking about? You're the one who was way out of my league. I never even understood why you wanted to be with me."

She gave a laugh that didn't quite sound like a laugh. "I know you didn't, but that's because you're you. It always seemed pretty obvious to me."

"I'm not perfect," he said, feeling like an idiot for even pointing it out. "I'm miles away from perfect. I do make mistakes. And look at me - I'm awkward and bad at socialising, and I overthink everything and take things too seriously. I'm _rubbish_ at dancing, and I'm pretty boring by a lot of people's standards…"

"I've never thought you were boring," she said, and she leaned forward and kissed him.

After a single startled moment, he kissed her back, and she was warm and fierce and familiar. The rest of the room faded out, music and all. Even the last year, all the hurt and anger and not talking to each other, seemed distant and unimportant. The only real thing was Sapphie. Sapphie who still wanted to kiss him, who still - inexplicably - didn't think he was boring, and maybe things were somehow going to to work themselves out after all. His hand went round her back and pulled her closer, and he felt hers clasp at the back of his neck.

"Merlin!" A loud voice said nearby. "Get a room, will you?"

They broke apart in confusion. Albus, his cheeks burning, was suddenly aware again of where they were - the middle of a crowded party, with most of the school present, including all the teachers and his relatives, and he was Head Boy and was supposed to be a dignified presence...

"Oh, piss off, Rosie," Sapphie said, but she was half smiling, and her cheeks were also glowing.

Rose surveyed them, and Al met his cousin's eyes, feeling somewhat worried. What would she say? She had been very upset last year, when they'd broken up, and she'd been angry with Sapphie too.

"Well." Rose folded her arms across her chest. "All I can say is it took you idiots long enough."


	14. Spies

Weylin wasn't sure how he had got dragged along on this. Right now he could have been settled comfortably in the common room or the dormitory with Oscar and Titus, instead of creeping round dark, cold corridors.

Quite a number of people in his year - and in the year below as well - were very annoyed that they were not allowed to attend the Yule Ball, but Weylin really didn't care. He didn't particularly feel like a party, especially not that sort of formal thing. And he'd been looking forward to a quiet night. Eris had been pestering him to help with her snooping ever since that day in the common room, but he had assumed that she wouldn't be planning anything with Searle and the others at the ball.

And yet here they were.

He'd been to the library earlier, to get a book he was going to need for his homework over Christmas, and Eris had pounced on him the moment he came back into the common room.

"It's tonight!" she had told him in a loud whisper.

"What's tonight?" Weylin had been filled with a mixture of dismay and resignation. He knew it would have something to do with her stupid detective work, and he didn't really want to know.

"I've just been listening to Olivia talking to Simon Vaisey. They didn't know I was there."

"So you were spying on them," Weylin interrupted.

Eris shrugged. "If you want to call it that. I don't care. The point is, they're planning something tonight."

"Probably a date to the ball." Weylin started to edge past her.

It wasn't that he didn't believe her. Actually, he thought Searle and the others probably were up to something. He knew what mood Searle was in, and it was a dangerous one. He'd been simmering ever since last Easter. Searle had always been a leader, and in the past people had followed him. He'd been popular - why, Weylin couldn't imagine - and always the one on the top. He still had people who followed him, but the number was small. And other people, like Eris's brother Zeno, who had previously looked up to and imitated Searle, had gone in the opposite direction. Searle didn't like being the one people talked down to or about. He'd been getting angrier and angrier, and Weylin was sure he was preparing some sort of strike back against all the people who had been saying unpleasant things.

The thing was, Weylin didn't want to be involved. If Searle wanted to make some sort of point, let him. Weylin didn't see what actual damage Searle could do, except maybe get himself expelled. And while that would be awful and unimaginable, he didn't really think it would come to that. Besides, there was nothing he could do. If he tried to dissuade or confront his brother, that would only make Searle angrier. And if someone got in his way, Weylin didn't think Searle would hold much back.

"It wasn't a date to the ball!" Eris had said, scowling. "Don't be stupid. It's the same thing they were planning with your brother. They're going to do it tonight, while everyone else is at the ball - and I'm going to follow them and find out what it is!"

"Why?" Weylin had stopped and turned to face her. "Seriously, Eris. What's the point? If they're going to do something, let them, and let them be the ones who get into trouble."

"I want to know what it is," she'd said obstinately. "And anyway..."

She'd paused, and he'd frowned.

"Anyway what?"

Eris had bitten her lip, suddenly seeming less sure of herself.

"They were talking about Sycorax. I think they've persuaded her to join in with them."

Weylin had stared at her. "I thought you said Sycorax argued with them."

"Well, she did, but I don't really know what happened because I couldn't hear them that time. And Simon said 'is Sycorax Montague in?' and Olivia said 'yeah, I think so'. And if Cora's joining in with stuff your brother's doing, then I want to know what it is."

For a moment, Weylin had said nothing. If Sycorax Montague was joining in, that meant there was a good chance Ariadne might be too. Searle was one thing, but Ariadne was another. She didn't really believe in all the stuff their parents were into. In fact, she was the only member of his family Weylin could stand right now, and he hated the idea of her siding with Searle.

"Why d'you want me to come with you?" he'd asked at last. "Why not get Lilith or someone to come?"

"Because you're the only one who knows anything about it, apart from me. I'm not telling Lilith - Olivia's her cousin."

"Searle's my brother," Weylin had pointed out.

"Yeah, well, that's different. You don't even like Searle. Lilith and Olivia are really close."

"They're all at the ball." Weylin had seen groups of older students heading that way, all dressed up for the night, as he'd come back from the library, and the common room was all but empty. "How are you even planning on spying on them?"

"There's an alcove just down the corridor from the great hall. We'll be able to see if any of them leave, and then we can follow them. But we need to go quickly - the ball's started, so if we wait much longer, they might have already gone."

"If they're going to do something, how d'you know they're not going to do it _at _the ball?" Weylin had asked. Her plan had seemed to have lots of flaws to it.

"In front of all the teachers? Yeah right!" Eris had scoffed. "Searle might be that stupid, but Olivia's not, and neither's Simon Vaisey. So are you coming, or am I going by myself?"

He'd gone along with her in the end, telling himself that it was only to get her off his back, and that nothing would really happen.

Except it had, and here they were, sneaking down the empty corridors after the group of older students. What they were going to do, he had no idea. Ariadne, to his relief, was not there, but Searle was, and so was Sycorax. And whatever he told himself, or Eris, Weylin was curious. Not to mention a growing worry that was gnawing at him. Searle was the one planning it all, and Weylin might not always like Searle much, but he was his brother. Any more trouble was going to affect the whole family.

However, his misgivings were almost as great as his curiosity. For one thing, Weylin was pretty sure that Searle would be willing to physically hurt anyone he found spying on him. For another, he still felt that he'd almost rather just not know what Searle was up to. And for yet another, he wasn't sure _why _Eris was so keen to find out what was going on. Did she disapprove of the whole thing - whatever it was - or was she simply annoyed that her sister had been included and not her? If she disapproved, why not just keep out of it, the way Weylin would have liked to?

"Eris, I don't think this is a good idea!" he hissed in her ear, for what felt like the hundredth time.

Eris, leaning round a corner to see where the others were going, elbowed him in the stomach.

"Shut up. Go back to the common room if you want then, and let me get on with it."

She slipped round the corner in the darkness - neither of them had dared to use a Lumos spell, although luckily Searle and his friends had, so they could follow the points of light - and Weylin cursed her in his head. He couldn't let her carry on by herself - not when Searle might catch her. He followed her.

The little group of students ahead of them were moving quietly, although not very fast. There had been a couple of what sounded like whispered arguments, but none of the words had been clear. They rounded another corner, and Weylin and Eris crept after them.

"What are you even going to do?" Weylin whispered.

"Nothing. I just want to know what they're doing!" Eris replied.

"But why?"

She swung round to face him.

"Well, don't you want to know?"

Weylin folded his arms across his chest.

"Well, maybe, yeah. But not enough to be following them round the school!"

"So, like I say, don't," she snapped. "But if you're coming with me, then be quiet, or you'll get us caught!"

Weylin refrained from pointing out that she was talking considerably more loudly than he had been. "Fine. But if Searle finds out we're spying on him, he'll kill us." Not literally, of course, but Weylin knew what his brother was capable of, and he did not want to get caught.

Eris did not reply, but turned round again and headed off down the corridor. Weylin, despite his worries, followed her once more. He was just behind her as she reached the corner, peered round it, and stopped dead. Weylin almost bumped into her, and just managed to regain his balance without stumbling.

He leaned round her, and looked out at what she could see.

Searle and the others had stopped in the corridor, and were standing in a bunch. They were in one of the broad corridors between the entrance hall and the great hall – one of the ones most people used every day. And this was apparently where they'd been aiming for – a deliberate choice, Weylin guessed, since this was one of the few corridors without any portrait paintings on it, and therefore no witnesses to whatever they were going to do. Apart from Weylin and Eris, that was.

It was Searle himself who stepped forward from the group – even in the dark, Weylin could recognise his brother's tall silhouette. He raised his wand, and a glowing beam shot from it straight onto the wall in front of him.

"What's he doing?" Eris breathed, but Weylin had no answer.

On the wall, lit by the wands of the rest of the group, appeared gleaming red letters, the colour of fresh blood. Eris's fingers gripped Weylin's arm. He himself felt his breathing suddenly constrict as he read the words Searle was spelling out in sprawled capitals.

THE DARK LEAGUE LIVES

No. Even Searle could not be that stupid. Weylin knew what the League was. What it had always been. He had known some of it, even last year, but now he could hardly avoid knowing. And he had heard the name Dark League whispered by the people who had been in it. He loved his parents, but he had never been in any doubt that they were guilty of what they were charged with. The details of that were vague in his mind, but the essentials – that they had been part of the League, and that the League had been promoting the dark arts, and that his parents had been fully aware of that – were all that mattered. Sometimes he felt so angry with them that he almost hated them as much as he missed them.

He had never stopped to think about whether he agreed with any of it. Or even, really, whether Searle did. But now he was watching Searle do something that would surely get him expelled, if he was caught. And that was too much, on top of everything else. Why, _why_, couldn't Searle just stay quiet and keep out of trouble?

Weylin wished, as his brother finished the final letter, that he had stayed in the common room and had never known about this.

He grabbed Eris's arm.

"Come on. Let's go!" he hissed urgently.

They could go back, and pretend they'd never seen it. Nobody needed to know. Even Searle didn't need to know they'd been here.

For a moment, Eris resisted him. And then Weylin dropped her arm as another nasty shock walked around the far corner.

* * *

It had been Issie's idea to leave the common room that night.

For a brief time, last year, she, Alice and Jake had had illicit access to the famous Marauder's Map, and they had got into the habit of using it to explore the school. They no longer had it, but they had already tried out many of the secret passages before they had had to return it, and they had continued with their own explorations. However, what with drama rehearsals, Issie's Quidditch practise, and everything else that had been going on, they had not done anything like that for a while.

Tonight, though, was the perfect night. Most of the teachers and almost all the older students were at the Yule Ball, so the corridors would be empty. They had the night off from any drama club responsibilities. And a trip to the kitchens would go some way to making up for not being allowed to attend the ball. They had been going to invite Pádraig and Artemis, their fellow Gryffindors, to come with them, but Pádraig and Artemis were not to be found in the common room, so in the end it was just the three of them as usual.

"So, reckon you know your lines for tomorrow?" Jake asked Alice as they headed back towards the common room, their arms filled with their loot from the kitchens, avoiding the busy corridors around the the great hall.

"We're not doing the play until the day after tomorrow," Issie pointed out.

"Yeah, but Lucy said she'd kill anyone who didn't know all their lines at the dress rehearsal, and that's tomorrow," Jake told her. "I think she was mostly talking to Pádraig. He always forgets half of his."

"I hope I know mine," said Alice worriedly. "I mean, I do know them, really. But I know I'm just going to get up on stage and forget everything I have to say. I wish Lucy and Tilly hadn't given me any words."

"You'll be fine," Issie said. "Remember Tilly's going to be there with the script, so if you forget she'll whisper it to you. But you won't forget. You've known your lines for weeks."

"Are you really going to drop out of the club after this play, Is?" Jake asked.

There was a small pause. Neither of Issie's best friends had asked her much about what had happened, at least since it had apparently been more or less resolved.

"I don't know. Probably," Issie said, hurrying along the corridor slightly in front of the other two. "I mean, it's not that I don't like it. But I'd be no good at acting…"

"I thought that," Alice broke in. "And I'm not, not really. But I still got a part."

"But I don't want a part. Anyway, Eris Montague's not going to drop out, is she?"

"Lucy can't choose her over you!" Jake began indignantly, as they rounded a corner. "Oh!"

He broke off with a startled noise, and all three of them came to an abrupt halt. The figures with the lit wands in the corridor ahead of them swung round to face them.

Issie grabbed Alice's arm and began to pull her backwards. She knew at least one of them, and they were not people she wanted to meet in a dark, empty hallway.

"Come on, let's go a different way!" she said urgently.

"Hold on a minute!" Searle Nott stepped forward from the others, and in the light from his wand, Issie could see an unpleasant smile on his face. "What's the rush, Malfoy? Not creeping round corridors where you shouldn't be, are you? Thought kids like you ought to be in bed by this time…"

"We've got just as much right to be here as you!" Alice said unexpectedly, from behind Issie.

Issie squeezed Alice's arm hard, a signal to shut up.

"Let's go! Come on!" she whispered, still backing.

She had never had much to do with Searle Nott personally, but she knew all about him. He shared a dormitory with Scorpius, and Scorpius hated him. He was a bully and, although she quite liked Weylin, Issie didn't think Searle was any better than their parents. And Issie knew all about what the Notts had done. She had heard with her own ears as Mrs Nott blackmailed her mother.

"Not so fast, Malfoy." Searle pointed his wand at the three second-years, the amused tone dropping away so that all that was left was a sneering threat. "Tell me why I should just let you, of all people, go running off to tell everyone we were here. Anyway, while I've got you here, I think I fancy a bit of fun."

"Searle," a voice said from behind, and Issie thought she recognised the boy, although she couldn't remember his name – Simon something. "Searle, I don't think…"

"Oh, shut up," Searle snarled. "What d'you want us to do, Vaisey? They've seen us now!"

"All right, so obliviate them or something! You can't hurt them!"

"Hey, you can't just obliviate us!" Jake protested. "I mean, we're not going to tell anyone we saw you, are we?" He cast a wide-eyed look at the girls.

Issie shook her head in agreement, although her heart was drumming against her ribs, and she didn't think Searle Nott was going to be that easily satisfied. But the main thing was to get away from him. She remembered the last time she had been trapped in a dark corridor by people who hated her. That time it had been Zeno and Eris Montague and their friends, and it had been scary enough, even though none of them had been older than third-years. This was different. Searle was a seventh-year.

"What's that?" Alice was staring at the wall behind the older students, her wand held up, its tip lit by her earlier Lumos spell.

"Alice, never mind!" Jake hissed.

But it was too late. They had all seen the words, and Searle could see that they had seen it. For a moment, Issie just stared, a ringing in her ears. Lots of people had been League supporters last year, before people had known what it really was. But she hadn't imagined that even Searle Nott would support it openly any more. Scorpius could have been killed last year, when the League had attacked that village – and not just Scorpius, but his friend Hazel too, of whom Issie was fond, and who didn't even have a wand or any magic. She felt a sudden blinding anger. But as she turned to look at Searle and his friends, her anger mixed with terror. Because if he was a real League supporter, what might he do?

Searle stepped up very close to them.

"So, going to go running off to Daddy and tell on us, are you, Longbottom?" he said. "D'you know what the League does to little grasses like you? Or d'you want me to tell you?"

Alice, no longer quite so brave, took a step back.

"Searle, seriously, stop it," the boy called Simon Vaisey said.

Searle ignored him, and looked at Issie.

"Lucky, really, running into you. I've been hoping I could get your brother on his own all term, and then you come trotting out into an empty corridor, when everyone's too busy dancing and having fun to come and look for any of us."

He shoved his face up close to hers, and Issie found herself unable to move. Not because of any spell – her legs simply wouldn't obey her.

"Your family's the reason mine are in prison," he hissed.

It was not unlike the things that Eris had said, but Eris was not intimidating in the slightest compared to this.

"No… they're not," Issie whispered.

"Yes, they fucking are," Searle retorted. "You and your bloody parents, who like to pretend they're squeaky clean. Ministry Bitches – that's what the Malfoys are these days." A couple of his friends laughed at that. "But the thing is," Searle went on, "I'm not going to let you land me in the shit as well. So yeah, you can say goodbye to your memories. But not before I've had a bit of revenge. After all, I don't know when I'm going to get another chance."

"Searle!" It was a girl's voice this time, and Issie knew her too. Eris's sister. "You can't really…"

"Oh, shut the fuck up, Montague. You and Vaisey. I was going to let you back out before, but not now. You wanted to be part of this, so you're part of it. All of it."

"Issie, come on, run!" Jake said in her ear, grabbing her arm.

Issie's limbs came back to life, and she swung round, but they weren't quick enough. One of the others – and not one of the two who had been protesting - had moved round the other side of them, and their way was blocked.

"Look, just let us go!" Alice said desperately. "We won't tell anyone!"

"Oh, don't worry, Longbottom." Searle laughed. "I'm not interested in you – I'll just make sure you don't remember what happened. It's Malfoy here I've got a little bit of a problem with."

Issie gripped her wand with a hand that was suddenly slippery. Could she fight him? No, of course she couldn't. She felt tears on her cheeks, and she had never felt less like a Gryffindor.

* * *

Weylin had thought things could not get any worse until Issie, Alice and Jake had walked around the corner.

He knew. He knew what Searle thought of the Malfoys, and he knew that his brother wouldn't pass this up. Searle was furious about what had happened to their parents, and he wanted someone to blame. Someone to revenge himself on. That was what all this was about, really. It was about hitting back.

But surely Searle wouldn't do anything really bad. He'd scare people, he'd sneer and make nasty comments, he might even throw a hex or two – Weylin had been on the receiving end of some of his brother's hexes – but he wouldn't do anything _serious_.

Except that suddenly Weylin was not at all sure of that. He heard Simon and Sycorax protest, heard the nervousness in their voices, and knew that they were not sure of Searle either, but they were also scared of him. Well, Weylin was scared of his brother himself. But as Darius moved round the other side of the little group, and he saw Searle draw his wand, he knew he couldn't just watch.

"Searle, stop it!" The voice didn't seem to be his, but it came from him as he stepped out of the shadows.

Searle spun round. For a moment, he just stared. Then he laughed harshly.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Weylin stood his ground, clutching his wand.

"Following you. Are you totally mad, Searle? Painting that stuff." Weylin waved his hand at the graffiti on the wall. "And now you're… you're… What happened to staying out of trouble?"

"Well, you can do what our grandmother suggests if you want," Searle sneered. "I'm more interested in staying loyal to our parents – or have you forgotten about them already?"

"Of course I haven't!" Blood was drumming in Weylin's ears, and he wasn't sure if he was still scared or just angry. "But you can't… you're not _helping_ them! And… and you can't hurt people. Searle, you seriously can't!"

"You fucking treacherous little coward!" Searle snarled, and made a sudden lunge forwards. His wand flashed out, there was a burst of light, and Weylin felt himself flung backwards. He hit the floor with a crash. Someone else screamed. There was a crack as his head collided with the floor. Pain flooded in a moment later, sharp enough to make him cry out, and the world span. Desperately, he struggled to get himself together and sit up, but another hex hit him like a blow between the ribs, and he doubled over with a groan.

"Searle!" It was Olivia Avery's voice, and it sounded dismayed, but it also seemed to come from far away.

"Don't start! He's been asking for it all term, prancing round with fucking Weasley! And now sneaking round the corridors after me. Next time, try minding your own business, Weylin."

Weylin raised his head to look at his brother, but the last blow had winded him, and he couldn't suck enough air in to speak. And Searle was not looking at him; he was staring over Weylin's head.

"I see you brought your girlfriend too," he sneered. "Well, Montague? Whose side are you on? Your brother's, or your sister's?"

"Eris!" Sycorax Montague sounded horrified.

"I'm not on anyone's side." From behind Weylin came Eris's voice, cool and clear. "I don't care what you do, Nott. Or you, Cora – this is nothing to do with me."

"And yet, here you are, spying on us." Searle's voice took on a false sickly-sweetness.

Eris laughed, which seemed a completely inappropriate reaction to Weylin.

"Yeah, because he dragged me along. You think I want to be here?"

She told the lie so easily Weylin wasn't sure what he'd heard for a second. Then he gathered his breath indignantly. No way was she getting away with that. But Eris hadn't stopped for him to speak.

"And I don't care what my brother's said either. Zeno's an idiot. I've never said anything against the League."

"Eris..." Sycorax began again, but she didn't finish the sentence.

Searle took a step forward. Behind him, Darius and the others were still gathered around the two second-years. But all Searle's attention was on Eris Montague. Weylin tried to twist himself round to look at her too, but that brought the pain back in a red bot bolt that made him gasp.

"Are you saying you're _for_ the League?" Searle demanded.

"I'm not saying anything," Eris replied. "All I'm saying is, maybe someone _should_ let them all know the League's not dead, and not everyone's abandoned it. Even if my parents have – I'm not my parents. And if you think I'm going to care if you want to get your own back on _Iseult Malfoy_…" She made a disgusted noise. "Well, I don't care. Though it's a shame she won't remember who did it."

Weylin could see the corner of his brother's smile. Horror was slowly dawning on him. Eris had always been annoying, but surely, surely she couldn't mean that? He needed to get up. He needed to stop it. But he couldn't.

"Shame she's only a second-year, guys." Searle looked back at his friends. "She seems a lot more sure than you, _Cora_. Looks like we might have invited the wrong Montague to join us."

"Maybe you did," Eris said, still managing to sound completely calm. "But I'm not hanging around to watch, because I don't plan on getting expelled if you're caught. Don't worry, though – I'm pretty good at secrets. I was never here, and I never saw anything." She paused for a moment. "Sorry, Weylin. But you got yourself into this, and you're not getting me into it too. I'm going to bed."

He heard her turn around. Heard her footsteps recede and go quiet as she turned the corner. And she was gone. He couldn't even feel betrayed, because she was Eris Montague and he'd never trusted her in the first place, but he'd never have expected this.

"Searle?" Olivia said, doubt in her voice.

There was a short silence.

"Ignore her," Sycorax said at last. "Look, I know her, she won't tell anyone. But you don't want her in on it either. She just says stuff she thinks sound important."

"As opposed to you," Searle replied, "who change your mind every five minutes. Oh, shut up, Montague. I don't give a toss about your little sister. I've got stuff here to finish."

He turned his back on Weylin, and on the corridor down which Eris had gone, walking back towards the others. Weylin, with a desperate effort, pulled himself onto his knees.

"Searle, stop!" he shouted hoarsely. "Simon, Olivia, stop him! You can't let him!"

But both Simon and Olivia were standing uncertainly, making no move to stop anyone. Sycorax had made no reply to Searle's final shot, and her wand was hanging down by her side. Weylin felt his heart sink hopelessly. It was just him and the three Gryffindors. There was no point in fighting. They'd lost already.

* * *

Eris Montague walked down the corridor. She resisted the urge to look back at the scene behind her. Her head was up, her shoulders back.

_Make an exit_.

Once she was safely round the corner, she stopped. The murmur of voices came from behind her. She had no idea what Searle Nott was going to do. No idea how far he'd take things. She was, as she'd said, on nobody's side, even though her sister was there. But sides didn't really come into it.

Eris ran.


	15. Saviours

The ball was coming to an end. Al had to admit that he had enjoyed the evening a lot more than he'd expected to, although that was entirely because he'd spent the whole time with Sapphie. When he stopped to think about it, he felt a little bad for ditching the rest of the group, but when he said this to Gareth – as he made a run for drinks for himself and Sapphie – Gareth laughed at him.

"It's fine. There are like seven of us. Nobody's feeling lonely. Although there's a lot of talk about you and Sapphie going on. What's the deal? I mean, I'm happy for you, but are you guys… you know, back together? I mean, officially?"

Albus shrugged. "Officially, I don't even know. And I'm not going to ask right now. We've still got a load of stuff to talk about."

"Oh, come on, Al."

"No, I'm serious. But I suppose… well, I hope we are," he admitted. "Right now, I'm just going with it, though."

"Right." Gareth grinned. "Well, you look like you're having fun, so I'll leave you to it."

Shortly afterwards, he bumped into Lily, who was flushed and smiling.

"Al! I saw you and Sapphie dancing together, and Hugo said you were _kissing_!" She beamed at him. "That's great! I'm so glad you guys have sorted it out!"

Albus groaned. "Yeah, could people maybe stop talking about me for a while, and mind their own business?"

She giggled. "Stop snogging Sapphie in front of the whole school then."

"Oh, shut up." He could feel his face heating up again, and hated himself for it. "How's your evening going, anyway? You look like you're enjoying yourself."

"I am," she replied promptly, then grinned at him. "I haven't kissed anyone though. So you're beating me."

Really, although it was vaguely embarrassing, especially coming from his little sister, Albus couldn't bring himself to care very much about the comments of his friends and relatives, and Sapphie didn't seem to either.

They left the great hall together as people gradually drifted out. Her hand was in his, and he wasn't sure what had happened to the rest of their friends. It didn't seem to matter, so they headed in the direction of the Gryffindor common room.

They didn't get very far. The sudden sound of flying footsteps made Albus half turn. A figure hurtled out of a side corridor and almost collided with him, skidding to a halt.

"What the hell?" he exclaimed.

The girl was so out of breath she couldn't speak for a moment. Her cheeks were red, hair escaping from her pony tail, and it took Albus a second to place her.

Eris Montague. The girl who'd caused all the trouble with Iseult Malfoy. But what was she doing here?

She took a deep breath. "You've got to come!" she gasped out. "Searle Nott... in the corridor... He's going to hurt them!"

"_What_?" Sapphie broke in. "What d'you mean? Who's he going to hurt?"

"Iseult Malfoy. And Weylin. And maybe the others, I don't know. I don't know what he's going to do. But you have to stop him, quickly!"

She gazed at them with wide eyes, and Albus didn't doubt that she was telling the truth, although he didn't understand what was going on.

"Where is he?" he demanded. Surely he had seen Searle Nott at the ball earlier in the evening?

"The main corridor on the second floor," Eris replied. "The one leading to the stairs down into the entrance hall. There's not just him, though - there's a whole crowd of them."

Al's mind was racing. What should he do? He didn't know where most of his friends or any of the prefects were, and the last thing he wanted was to make a volatile situation worse. He looked at Sapphie.

"We have to do something," she said.

"Yeah, we do. I'm going down there," Albus said, making up his mind.

"I'm coming too," Sapphie put in promptly.

He nodded. "Okay. Listen, Eris - that's your name, right? Find a teacher. Any of them. And if you see Farah Jilani, tell her what's happening. Quick as you can, okay?"

* * *

Issie's back was pressed hard against the wall, her feet dangling off the floor. Searle Nott stood in front of her, laughing at her as she tried to squirm free from whatever spell was holding her. From behind him, she could hear Alice screaming, "Stop it! Let me go! Leave her alone!" Jake was struggling on the floor, having been hit with a Leg-Locker. Issie knew that this was just the game before Searle did something that would hurt her, perhaps badly, and she wondered just how brave she was capable of being.

"See, this is what happens to people whose families turn against their friends," Searle said, with a dangerous grin. "Enjoying yourself, Malfoy?"

"Put her down, Nott." The voice that cut suddenly in was a new one, quiet and yet perfectly audible.

Issie blinked. Albus Potter was standing there behind Nott, in his dress robes with his wand drawn. Beside him was Sapphie, and Issie had never been so glad to see anyone in her life before.

"I said, put her down," Albus repeated.

Searle, who had looked over his shoulder when Albus first spoke, turned around to face the newcomers. The spell holding Issie broke and she dropped to the floor, landing feet-first with a crash that jarred her legs. One ankle buckled under her, and she crumpled to the ground.

"I just did," Searle said. "Come to play the hero, Potter?"

"Issie!" Sapphie started forward, ignoring Searle. "Are you okay?"

Issie couldn't answer. There was a burning lump in her throat that threatened to spill over into tears if she spoke. Her head hurt where it had hit the wall. But she wouldn't give in. She would fight back if she had to. Her hand groped on the floor for the wand she had dropped when Searle had hoisted her into the air.

"Shame you're a bit outnumbered, Potter." Searle's voice grew even uglier. "Five of us and two of you. Fancy your chances, do you?"

"Oh, give it up, Nott!" Sapphie snapped, turning back towards him before she reached Issie. "Merlin, what's _wrong _with you? Bullying second and third-years? You're pathetic!"

Issie's hand found her wand and she struggled to her knees. Searle was right. However good Albus and Sapphie were, there were only two of them. They still weren't saved. However, looking round, she was not sure how many of Searle's followers were prepared to fight.

Sycorax had frozen where she stood. Olivia Avery and Simon Vaisey were looking at each other with horrified faces, and none of them had said a word. The other seventh-year boy, Searle's friend, was holding onto Alice round her neck, which would get in the way a bit if he wanted to cast any hexes.

"There's not only two of them!" Issie found her voice as she pushed herself to her feet, trying to ignore the pain in her twisted ankle. "There's three!"

"Four!" Alice burst out, making a determined effort to escape. "Let me _go_!"

"Nott, you don't want to do this," Albus said quietly. "Come on. What's the point? Just stop, before more people get hurt."

"Oh yeah, and then what?" Searle sneered. "You report me to Clearwater. No thanks. What's the matter, don't think you can take me on?"

"What on _earth_ is going on?"

Around the corner strode Professor Clearwater. Beside her was Professor Longbottom.

For a moment there was utter silence, and nobody moved.

Then Alice exclaimed, "Dad!"

The boy holding onto her released her as if burnt. Sycorax Montague sank to the floor, and Issie thought she might be crying.

"Alice!" Professor Longbottom sounded shocked. "Issie, Jake, are you all right?"

"I... I'm all right," Issie stammered, although she wasn't sure it was true.

"Put your wand down immediately, Nott," Professor Clearwater said angrily. "And go straight to my office!" She took a few steps over to where Weylin still sat on the floor in a semi-curled position. "I think you need the hospital wing. And Miss Malfoy, you too."

"I'll take them," Professor Longbottom said at once, and strode over to Jake. "And I think maybe Jake and Alice as well…"

"Yes, I agree. Thank you, Neville. Although we'll need to hear their accounts of what exactly has been happening here." Professor Clearwater looked around her. "The rest of you, my office, now. Potter, Jordan, you too, please. I want to hear your account of this."

Her voice was like ice, and Issie was suddenly rather glad she was going to the hospital wing instead.

Searle Nott, who had reluctantly lowered his wand when Professor Clearwater told him to, looked round, the anger in his face being replaced with dismay as the situation clearly sank in.

"Hey, Professor, I mean, none of this was serious." He laughed uneasily. "We weren't actually going to hurt anyone. It was a prank, that's all. A joke."

"You call this a joke?" Another figure emerged from the shadows behind Professor Clearwater: Professor Sewell, Arithmancy teacher and Head of Slytherin. He fixed Searle with a stony glare. "I fail to see the funny side, Nott. I'm disgusted with you. All of you." His eyes moved over the rest of Searle's little group. "Now be quiet, and do as Professor Clearwater told you."

* * *

Issie opened her eyes to sunlight shining through white curtains. For a moment, she lay still, puzzled. This wasn't her bed. Then the memories of the previous night rushed in, and she sat bolt upright, pushing her hair out of her face.

She was in the hospital wing. Madam Booth had insisted on her staying overnight, and she hadn't had any inclination to argue, even though they had sent Alice and Jake back to their own beds. Madam Booth had said she wanted to keep an eye on the bump Issie had had to her head. Then Scorpius had appeared, still in his dress robes and looking dishevelled, as if he'd been running. He'd been so furious with Searle Nott that Madam Booth had had to tell him to calm down or he'd have to leave. She had made him leave anyway though, after only about half an hour, because it was after midnight.

Issie wondered what was happening. Nott and the others would be in trouble, of course, but how much? Did everyone know about it?

The curtains opened, and Madam Booth peered in. She smiled when she saw Issie awake.

"Well, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Issie replied. "Hungry," she added. "What time is it?"

"It's after midday," Madam Booth told her. "You've slept for nearly twelve hours, and a good thing too. Here, drink this." She held out a goblet with a sweet-smelling potion in it. "And I'll see about getting you some breakfast."

Issie took the goblet and gulped it down, suddenly realising that she was thirsty as well as hungry.

"Madam Booth, what's happening? To the others, I mean," she asked, when she had drained the drink. "And Searle Nott and the rest."

Madam Booth looked kindly at her. "I'm afraid I can't tell you much, because I don't know. None of your friends are in any trouble, though. Now, would you like your curtains open or closed?"

"Open, please," Issie decided. She did not feel ill. Hopefully they would let her get up after breakfast, and go and join the others. They had the dress rehearsal later, and then tomorrow was the show, and after that the holidays were starting. Then she remembered more of the details of last night. Eris Montague had walked away. She'd sided with Searle Nott. How could they put the play on now?

"How's Weylin?" she asked, remembering that Weylin too had been brought to the hospital wing.

Madam Booth pushed her curtains open, and indicated the bed next door but one, which still had its curtains drawn around it.

"He's there, and he's still asleep. He was awake longer than you last night – I had to give him a sleeping draught in the end. He had a couple of cracked ribs as well as the bruises, poor lad."

Issie was silent for a moment, looking at the closed cubicle. Weylin had stuck up for her. He had faced down his own brother, and it was Searle who had cracked his ribs, and was now presumably in a lot of trouble. She wasn't surprised he hadn't been able to sleep.

A few minutes later, she was tucking into a plate of buttered toast when the door to the hospital wing cracked open. Jake's face peered round it. Madam Booth, halfway back across the room towards her office, turned and smiled.

"Yes, all right. Iseult is awake, so you can come in. But Weylin isn't – so keep the noise down, please."

The door opened a little further, and Jake came in, followed by Alice, and then by Oscar and Titus, whom Issie thought must be here to see Weylin.

"Issie!" Alice overtook Jake and hurried to Issie's bedside. "Are you all right?"

Issie swallowed a mouthful of toast. "I'm fine. Really," she added, as Alice's worried frown didn't lift. She glanced after Madam Booth, who was just disappearing into her office. "What's happening about it all? Nobody's been to see me since Scorpius last night, and Madam Booth doesn't know anything."

Alice perched on the bed, and the boys all gathered round it.

"Nobody really knows," Oscar said. He looked over his shoulder, at the closed curtains of Weylin's bed. "Is he actually asleep?"

"I think so." Issie nodded. "I haven't seen him. Madam Booth said she gave him a sleeping potion."

"Well, some people are saying Searle's going to be expelled," Oscar went on, lowering his voice.

"Pretty sure that's bullshit," Titus put in. "I mean, come on. It's not like anyone was actually hurt. Not seriously hurt, anyway. People have done loads of worse things and not been expelled."

"He still painted graffiti supporting the League," Jake pointed out. "The League's illegal now. And he called it the Dark League, which sounds pretty bad."

"And Searle's been in serious trouble before, for hexing people and stuff," Oscar added. "That'll make things worse for him."

Titus shrugged. "Yeah, but last year James Potter and Louis Weasley fed a whole load of people Veritaserum, and that's illegal too, but they weren't expelled."

"They didn't attack anyone though," Alice said. "This is different. Anyway," she went on, before any of the others could speak, "the point is, we don't know. Everyone's talking about it, though. We had to go and talk to Professor Clearwater and tell her what happened. Albus and Sapphie were there this morning too, and they were in on it last night, but even they don't know what's going to happen to Nott."

Issie opened her mouth to ask a question that had been on her mind, but before she could, there was a rustling of curtains at Weylin's bed. The curtains parted and Weylin looked out at them, still lying in bed, but propped up on one elbow.

"Oh," he said. "It's you lot. Hey."

There was a slightly awkward pause, in which they all wondered how much Weylin had heard. He was even paler than usual, Issie thought. And he still had shadows under his eyes, despite his long sleep.

"Sorry," Alice said, breaking the silence. "We didn't mean to wake you. How are you feeling?"

He blinked at her for a moment. "I'm… okay, I think," he said at last. "Thanks. And it's fine." He pushed himself into a sitting position. "What's the time?"

"Half past twelve," Oscar told him. "Are you, you know, actually okay?"

Weylin thought about this. "Well, my ribs still ache a bit. But nothing else hurts."

The others all looked at each other. That had not been what Oscar was asking, and they all knew it.

"What about you?" Weylin asked, looking at Issie.

"I'm fine," Issie repeated. "But Weylin… well, I mean, I just want to say… thank you. For last night. You… you tried to stop them. And you got hurt. So thanks."

Weylin looked at her, and as always, she found his expression impossible to read. He nodded.

"'S'all right."

It was not all right, but the things that were all wrong centred on Weylin's brother, so Issie turned back to the others, changing the subject with the question she had meant to ask before.

"How did Albus and Sapphie get there?" she asked. "And the teachers? I mean, how did they know to come?"

Alice, Jake, Oscar and Titus all looked at each other.

"Apparently, Eris Montague went and told them what was happening," Titus said.

Issie stared at him. "Eris Montague? Really?" She looked at Alice for confirmation of this astonishing idea.

Alice nodded. "That's what Albus said."

Issie sat back against her pillows, her head reeling. Why would Eris do that? She hated Issie. Then again, she did not appear to hate Weylin. Maybe she'd done it for him. But she'd been on Searle's side. At least, she'd appeared to be. But, thinking back, Issie could not be sure that Eris had ever actually _said_ that. And the one thing she did know about Eris was that she was a very good actress.

Another thought occurred to her, and she looked over at Weylin.

"Why were you there anyway? Did you know what they were going to do?"

Weylin shook his head. "No, we just knew they were going to do something. Well, Eris thought they were, and she got me to come with her." He looked round at them all. "I didn't… I mean, I don't agree with Searle. Not just what he did to you, Issie; that was horrible, obviously. I mean, the stuff about the League. I don't want the League to come back."

In all the years she'd known him vaguely, in the weeks they'd spent rehearsing, Issie thought that, apart from his lines, that was the most she'd ever heard Weylin Nott say in one go. And she wanted to believe him. She liked Weylin. But she couldn't forget what his family had done – his parents as well as his brother.

"We know you don't," Titus said.

"_You_ do. But…" Weylin didn't finish the sentence, but he looked at Alice, Issie and Jake.

"You stuck up for Issie, Weylin," Alice said, giving him a small smile. "We know you wouldn't support the League."

Weylin didn't quite smile, but he looked a tiny bit happier as he nodded.

"There's another thing," Jake said, gloomily, after a pause. "The play's cancelled."

"What?" This jolted Issie away from thoughts of Eris Montague. "_Why_?"

"Because of what happened, and you guys being in the hospital wing," Oscar explained. "Clearwater doesn't think it's 'appropriate under the circumstances' or something. I mean, if Searle's going to be-" He checked himself with a glance at Weylin. "Basically, they've got a whole load of crap to sort out, so she says it's not the time, and we'll have to do it next term instead."

"No way!" Issie glared indignantly at them all. "Not after everything we've done! We have to do it tomorrow!"

"The dress rehearsal was meant to be today," Alice pointed out.

"So? It still can be. Me and Weylin are okay – aren't we?" She looked at Weylin.

He was frowning. "Yes, I suppose so," he said slowly.

"Look, Is, you can sort of see what Clearwater means," Alice said apologetically.

"I can't," Titus said. "I think it's stupid. We're all prepared for tomorrow. Why shouldn't we do it?"

"What does Lucy say?" Weylin asked.

"She's gone to see Clearwater now," Jake replied. "Her and Tilly. They're going to try and persuade her to change her mind."

"Can't we do something to help?" Issie frowned, trying to think. Lucy was the most persuasive person she knew. Surely if anyone could convince the professors to let them put the play on, it would be her. Then again, it was because of what had happened last night, which involved Issie far more than Lucy, that the show was cancelled.

At that moment, the door to the hospital wing crashed fully open to reveal Pádraig, Artemis and Max. The door to Madam Booth's office also opened again at the same time, and she raised her eyebrows at the scene.

"Well, I shouldn't let you all in at once," she remarked. "But I suppose I can make an exception, as long as you can behave yourselves." She crossed the room towards Weylin's bed. "Well, and how are you feeling this morning? You're looking better." She put a hand on his forehead. "Yes. You'd better have something to eat too, but I don't see why you two shouldn't both be out of here as soon as you've eaten. And you can take this rabble with you." She smiled round as she departed.

The three newcomers, however, were not smiling. As soon as Madam Booth had gone, they joined the others round the beds.

"Listen, Clearwater said no to Lucy," Artemis began without preamble. "She said it's impossible, with only two days before the end of term, and all this stuff going on."

"Plus, Lucy said Clearwater didn't think some of you would want to do it any more," Pádraig put in. "Mostly you, Nott."

"Lucy's really upset," Artemis went on. "I mean, she didn't say much, but you know Lucy's upset when she won't talk about it. She went off by herself, and Tilly's gone after her."

"So we need to do something." Max picked up the story. "I mean, you guys are still in, right?"

There was a small pause.

"Well, I am," Jake said at last.

"Me too," Alice agreed.

There were murmurs of agreement from most of the others, and somehow they all found themselves looking at Weylin. He blinked at them.

"I'm in," he said at last. "I mean, we're all ready. Why would we cancel it?"

"Are you sure?" Alice looked earnestly at him. "I mean, everyone would understand really, if you didn't feel like it. Wouldn't we?"

She looked around for confirmation, but before anyone could agree or disagree, Weylin shook his head.

"No. I'm fine, honestly. And…" He hesitated. "Look, I'm done with Searle. I don't know if he's going to get expelled or not, but I don't want to think about him. I just want to do what we planned to do. And," he went on, "the whole reason Clearwater let Lucy do it in the first place was because it was all the houses getting together to do something. And after this, don't you think we need that even more? How about we get together a group with some of us from each house, and go to Clearwater ourselves? We can't leave it all to Lucy and Tilly. If it's all of us, I bet she'll say yes."

It was a good idea. Issie looked round at the others, and she could see that they thought the same. Max nodded.

"That's a great plan. I can go for Hufflepuff if Lucy doesn't want to go back. We'll need Tilly, but any of you lot can go for Gryffindor. And for Slytherin…"

"I'll go," Weylin said at once.

"You can't," Alice pointed out. "We need to go now, and you're still in bed and not dressed or anything. And Madam Booth said you had to eat something."

"Well, I'll go," Titus offered, then shrugged, as several people looked surprised. "Hey, we've put a shitload of work in. I'm not wasting that."

"Eris would probably go with you too," Oscar added. "We should tell her and Lilith what's going on anyway."

"And Leon and the others," Jake said. "And Nathan and Mark."

Suddenly, there was hope in the air again. Looking round, Issie saw smiles, and her heart lifted. However strange it might seem, all of them from different houses, they were a group. They were friends.


	16. Curtain Up

It took quite a lot to make Scorpius really angry, but the fact that Searle Nott had gone after Issie had made him so livid it had driven almost everything else out of his head. He saw Searle every day – if Searle had wanted to pick a fight over what had happened between their families, he could have done it at any point. But he had simply ignored Scorpius, who could probably have held his own against Searle as long as it was one on one. Issie had only just turned thirteen. She was an easy target, and Searle Nott knew it – and even then, he'd had four other people with him when he attacked her.

The only relief was that she had not been seriously hurt. He'd seen her the night it had happened, and she'd been shaken up and bruised, but otherwise okay, and by the time he visited her the following day, she was sitting up and chatting cheerfully. The school had sent his parents an owl the night before, rather than contact them directly in the middle of the night, given that Issie wasn't actually harmed. It had arrived in the morning, and his father had promptly flooed Hogwarts and spoken to Professor Longbottom, but ultimately decided not to come up. It was awkward for them, with Caelum to look after, and term finished in two days anyway. Issie, when told this, did not seem too worried either way. Her main preoccupation was the play they'd been rehearsing for, which Clearwater had tried to cancel, but had finally given them permission to go ahead with.

"You are coming to see it, aren't you, Scorp?" Issie asked anxiously.

"Um, yeah, I s'pose so," Scorpius agreed. His mind was more on Searle Nott than on any play, but he supposed he'd have to go and sit through it.

After seeing Issie so much better, however, he came away with the headspace to think about other things again.

And one of those things was Hazel. He knew he'd been a prick to her. He'd known that for a while, really, but his conversation with Lily the night before had confirmed it. Hearing her protest that her brother had no right to dictate who she hung out with, or saw, liked, or dated, or anything really, had made it blatantly clear. Of course Lily was right. The idea that she should not hang out with Scorpius because her brother didn't want her to was both ridiculous and offensive.

The same went for best friends. He was behaving just as badly as James Potter himself, if not worse because Potter at least had the excuse that Lily was his _younger _sister. Hazel was only a few months younger than Scorpius. She was not a child to be protected. She was capable of making her own judgements on people. And it was possible that her judgements might not be the same as his, and that was something he just had to accept. He wasn't sure he'd ever _like_ the idea of her hanging around with Potter, let alone going out with him, but the point was that that was irrelevant, and if he valued his friendship with Hazel – which he did – then he just had to keep his mouth shut and put up with it. And he could not really be angry with her even for keeping from him. She hadn't told him because she'd thought he'd react badly, and he had proved her absolutely right.

However he felt, it was not worth losing his best friend over.

After he came away from the hospital wing, he once more made his way down to the chilly lakeside, and dialled Hazel's number. It took her a long time to pick up, and he almost began to think she was going to ignore him. Then her voice came on the other end of the line:

"Hello? Scorpius?"

"Hey," he said, wondering how to begin what he knew he needed to say.

"Oh. Hey. Are you okay?" She sounded wary, perhaps slightly anxious.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just…" He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Hazel. The way I acted before. It wasn't okay, and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted that way."

She laughed, and there was a wealth of relief in her voice. "It's all right. I'm glad you called. I'm sorry too – for not telling you, and then for getting all defensive about it."

"You had the right to be defensive," he told her. "I was being a dick."

"No, you were hurt. And I get that, I seriously do, Scorp. I get why you hate him. That's why I stopped seeing him before I even told you about it."

"I know," he said quietly. "But listen, Hazel. You can't decide who you see and who you don't because of me. It's up to you. And I guess there can be different sides to people. So basically, what I'm saying is, if you actually genuinely don't _want_ to see him, then obviously don't see him. But if you only stopped because you were worried about what I'd think, then you shouldn't worry about that. You should do whatever you want. And I'm not going to say anything or get in your way, because that's not fair. I'll still be your friend, and I'll be here for you whatever you do." He took a deep breath as he finished his speech.

For a moment, she said nothing, and when she did speak, her voice was full of emotion.

"Thanks, Scorp. I mean it. Thank you for saying that. Honestly, I have no clue what I'm going to do about James Potter. But I'm just glad it's not going to get between us anymore."

"Come on." He laughed. "We've been friends for nearly twelve years. No way am I letting James Potter screw that up for us. Though he probably hates me even more now," he added.

"What? Why?" she asked worriedly. "How have you even seen him? He's not at school anymore."

Scorpius paused. He didn't really want to tell her, because she'd read too much into it – she'd been teasing him about Lily Potter all last year. And it was just embarrassing, especially after the agreement he and Lily had come to. But there shouldn't be any more secrets between him and Hazel.

"I went to the Yule Ball with Lily," he said at last.

"_What_?" she exclaimed again. "Seriously? Oh my God, Scorp! No wonder you've suddenly realised people's brothers and best friends can't dictate who they go out with. No, I'm joking," she went on, as he started to assure her that he'd been coming to the realisation anyway. "I think it's great. Was it a proper date then?"

"No, it wasn't," he replied firmly. "Calm down, Haze. We went as friends, and that's it, I swear. We actually talked about it, and we agreed that we only want to be friends."

"Oh." Hazel sounded slightly disappointed. "Okay then. Well, that's cool, if you're happy with it?"

"I'm definitely happy with it," he confirmed. "It's all I want right now. Especially with everything else going on."

"Everything else? What else is happening?"

The story spilled furiously out of him, of how Searle Nott and some others had been caught painting pro-League graffiti on the walls, and how Searle had then targeted Issie.

"Whoa," Hazel exclaimed when he had finished. "That's horrible, Scorp. Is she okay?"

"Yes," Scorpius said grimly. "They got caught in time, thank Merlin."

"Searle Nott. He's that guy in your year, right? The one you hate?"

"And the one whose parents basically co-ordinated the attacks last year."

"Seriously?" Hazel asked. "God. What's going to happen to him?"

"Nobody really knows yet. I suppose they might expel him, but I don't know. At the end of the day, all he actually did was paint some words on the wall, and scare a few kids. Nobody was badly hurt. And people have done worse things without being expelled. I reckon he'll get away with it – which means I'll have to share a room with him for two more terms."

"Well, at least it's almost the holidays, and you won't have to see him until next term. When are you home?"

"Two days," he replied. "Issie and her friends are doing their play thing tomorrow, and then we're coming home the next day. So I'll see you then."

Hazel laughed. "Well, say good luck to Issie. I hope their show goes well."

"I will. Though they're a bunch of twelve and thirteen-year-olds. I'm not sure how good it can be."

* * *

The great hall had been transformed into a theatre. The tables had been removed, and the benches all placed in long rows facing the dais where the teachers normally sat. Tilly and Titus had succeeded in rigging a curtain across the front of it, and another separated off an area at the back, which was to be backstage.

Issie had set up a props table in that area. Titus had helped her put it there, and Issie had arranged it. She was quite proud of it. Everything was labelled and arranged in the order it was needed. She had two lists of what was on it – one in her hand, and one spellotaped to the table. Beyond the heavy black curtains, she could hear laughter, voices, and shuffling benches and feet as the rest of the school filed in. There were no lessons that day, and it seemed that most people had decided that they had nothing better to do – although Issie was fully aware that most of the school did not take the drama club or its play very seriously, and were there to watch and laugh.

She checked through her list again, for at least the tenth time. If anything went wrong, it was not going to be Issie's fault. In a corner, Pádraig was sitting on the floor with his fingers in his ears and his script in front of him, his lips moving slightly as he frantically went over his lines. Lucy, Tilly and Titus were standing on the stage, running over the lighting cues, which Titus was in charge of. Roxanne Weasley had been allowed backstage, and was helping people into their costumes, her wand out to make last minute adjustments.

"Hey, Iseult," a voice said behind her.

She swung round. It was Eris Montague, already in her first costume, a sleek, dark green dress, her long hair hanging loose down her back. Issie clutched her list a little tighter. Since coming back to the drama club, she had managed to avoid talking to Eris entirely.

"I just wanted to say… the things I said before. I didn't mean them, not really. Okay?"

Issie stared at her. Whatever she had expected, it was not that. Eris sounded almost defensive.

"Well, I didn't mean all of them," Eris amended. "I'm just trying to say… your family was right about the League. And what happened last year was the League's fault, not yours. I know that. And I hate Searle Nott, and I think what he did was horrible and stupid, and I don't want to be part of anything like that. So, yeah. I'm sorry about what I said. And for the things I called you last year."

For a moment, they still stared at each other. The light was dim, but Issie thought that Eris's cheeks were a darker red than usual. Then Eris tossed her hair and turned away.

"Well, that's it. You can think I'm lying if you want."

Issie unstuck her throat. "Eris…" The other girl's name sounded strange coming from her mouth.

Eris stopped and turned back slowly.

Issie couldn't say she didn't think Eris was lying. She didn't trust her at all. But the fact remained that when Searle Nott had attacked Issie, it had been Eris Montague who ran for help.

"Thank you" Issie said in a rush. "For the other night, I mean. Thanks for going and telling everyone."

Eris blinked, and then she smiled. Not her usual smug, superior smile, but a real one.

"That's all right. You didn't think I was really just going to bed and ignoring it, did you?"

"Well, you said to Searle…" Issie began.

"Yeah well, I happen to be quite a good actor," Eris retorted with a shrug.

"Eris! Issie!" Lucy appeared beside them, and glanced from one to the other. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, it's fine," Issie replied. "Honestly. Here, Lucy, I've got all the props for the first scene ready."

"Great." Lucy looked thoughtfully at them for another moment, then shook her head. "Well, everyone's sitting down. It's time to go."

She disappeared as quickly as she had appeared. Issie looked at Eris.

"Good luck," she said.

Eris looked surprised, then smiled again. "Thanks."

She melted away into the shadows. Issie stared after her for a moment, then shook her head, picked up her list, and went to find the people who were needed for the first scene.

* * *

Lily found herself sitting next to Rose, with Meri on her other side. Beyond Rose, Al and Sapphie were sitting together, and Lily noticed that their hands were resting together on the bench between them, their fingers linked. Hugo and some of his friends were just in front of them.

"So, d'you know much about this play they're doing?" Meri asked her. "Has Lucy said anything to you?"

"Nope, not a thing." Lily shook her head. "I don't even know the name of it."

"It's _Romeo and Juliet_," Rose said, sounding amused.

"Oh. That's by Shakespeare, isn't it?" Lily said, trying to sound knowledgeable. They had learnt about Shakespeare in Muggle Studies, but she couldn't remember much about any of the individual plays. They had been using them to study Muggle ideas about magic. "Is that the one with the witches in it, and the Muggle king who kills everyone?" she asked.

"No, it's definitely _not_ that one." Rose sounded even more amused. "This has no witches. And no kings either, for that matter."

"How do you know so much about Muggle plays, Rose?" Meri asked. "You don't take Muggle Studies, do you?"

"My grandparents are Muggles," Rose pointed out. "And Mum's got the _Complete Works of Shakespeare_ on the bookshelf. I haven't read them all, but I've flipped through it. Anyway, those things are famous. Every ten-year-old Muggle's heard of _Romeo and Juliet_. I just think it's a pretty funny choice, given what's been going on this term. Although, knowing Lucy, she's done it on purpose."

"Done what on purpose?" Lily frowned, puzzled. "What's the play even about?"

Rose looked at her, then grinned. "Well, you're about to find out."

As she spoke, the lights dimmed, and at this signal, the chatter in the great hall began to die down. There was the brief sound of whispering behind the curtains, then they swung open onto a lighted stage. Centre stage stood Nathan Frost, a third-year Ravenclaw, his stance rigid and nervous. He glanced across at where Tilly Thomas was sitting in the shadows just beside the stage, a script in her lap, then seemed to rally, turned to the audience and began to speak, somewhat quickly.

"Two households, both alike in dignity…"

Hugo Weasley leaned over to Rufus as the speech drew to an end and Nathan marched off the stage.

"Is it just me who didn't understand a word of that?" he murmured.

Rose poked him in the back. "Shut up. You'll get it."

"I got it," Lily put in. "It's about two households with a feud. Is that why you said…?"

"Ssh," Rose said again. "Look, it's the first scene."

Two first years had strolled onto the stage, and Lily subsided and gave her attention to the action.

As the show wore on, it was clear that the play was going well. Some of the acting was terrible, but some of it was surprisingly good. There was laughter around the hall at the funny parts - and admittedly at some parts that were probably not supposed to be funny – and Lucy, as the nurse, succeeded in bringing the house down. Pádraig and Eris acted their parts so well that it did not matter that they were both slightly too young, and the odd soft prompt from Tilly didn't slow the action very much.

Nobody was laughing by the time Artemis, as Mercutio, cursed both the warring houses and fell to the ground, clutching a wound from which fake blood was seeping. And when, at the end, Romeo and Juliet were left alone on the stage, lying in a pool of light as the curtains closed slowly in front of them, the room was deathly silent.

Then, as they realised that it was actually over, applause started to break out. It grew, enthusiastic and genuine.

"That was actually really good!" Lily said, over the clapping.

"Surprisingly good," Rose agreed. "Though I'm now completely convinced she did it on purpose. Did you notice that all the main Capulets were Slytherins and all the main Montagues were Gryffindors? Cheeky brat."

Albus, the other side of her, laughed. "Well, if the point is that feuds between houses are stupid and only end up getting people hurt, then it's quite a good point."

As the applause quietened, Professor Clearwater stepped up on stage.

"Thank you, everyone," she called. "I'll just say a few words, since this is the last full day of term. I'm sure we'd all like to thank the drama club for an excellent performance – well done, all of you, especially the main actors. You all did a wonderful job. Now, I will admit that when the idea of a drama club was first suggested to me, I wasn't at all sure it was feasible. I was persuaded by Lucy Weasley, on the conditions that the club included people from all four houses, and that it was a unifying force rather than one of further strife. I hoped that it might bring people together, as Miss Weasley claimed it would.

"After the unpleasant events on the night of the Yule Ball, I thought it might be best not to try to put on a play before the end of term. I was persuaded once again, this time by an entire deputation consisting of members of all the houses, who begged me to let them continue. I agreed, because it seemed to me that the drama club had done exactly what Miss Weasley had promised. Here is a group of students, of each house, who have worked very hard together to make this play a reality. They are made up of the three youngest years in the school, but it strikes me that some older students would do well to follow their example.

"Before we go, though, I'd like to have an extra round of applause for the young woman who has been the driving force behind the entire thing, and who has succeeded in bringing people together in a year when divisions have seemed to be widening. Lucy Weasley, please step out here."

Lucy appeared, still in costume, her eyes glowing as she came to stand beside Professor Clearwater. The applause from behind the curtain was almost as loud as the applause from the hall.

"Well done, Miss Weasley," Professor Clearwater said. "That was an excellent achievement. I hope we can expect the drama club to continue next term?"

"Oh yes, Professor." Lucy beamed at her. "Actually, Tilly and I have already picked out another play."

"Merlin," Rose muttered. "I dread to think what she's got planned next."

* * *

"We did it!" Tilly shrieked, flinging herself at Lucy as she appeared backstage again.

"And I think people actually liked it," Artemis commented. "I mean, they were clapping and everything."

"Of course they liked it." Lucy grinned round at them all. "You were all amazing. Titus and Issie, you as well. There wouldn't have been any show without you two."

"I forgot some of my lines," Padraig said gloomily.

"You only needed prompted three times!" Tilly told him. "That's the best you've ever done it! Anyway, nobody cared."

"Have you actually chosen another play?" Oscar asked.

"Well, we've picked one that we think would be good, if everyone else likes it," said Tilly.

"Is it more Shakespeare?" Eris demanded.

Lucy nodded, and Pádraig groaned.

"Why can't you choose something easier? Does everyone die in this one too?"

Lucy laughed. "No, nobody dies. It's a comedy."

Pádraig looked a little happier. "Oh. What's it about?"

"Well." Lucy looked thoughtfully at the curtain that separated them from the rest of the school. "It's basically about everyone falling in love with the wrong person, and there's lots of misunderstandings and fights and people interfering in other people's lives. And also about a group of guys putting on a play. Oh, and there are fairies."

Pádraig looked dubious. "Fairies?"

"It's really funny," Lucy assured him. "You'll see."

"Hey, Malfoy," Titus said to Issie. "You're not really leaving, are you?"

Issie looked around. Everyone was looking at her. She was full of the excitement of the show, and it was a good feeling. And Eris Montague had apologised to her and they had actually had a civil conversation, which was something she had never thought would happen.

"Well, maybe not," she said slowly.

Alice squealed and flung her arms around Issie. Over Alice's shoulder, Issie caught Lucy's grin.

"Good," Lucy said. "Because there's a ton of parts in this play. We're going to need all the actors we can get."


	17. Epilogue

Albus came into the kitchen, glanced around, and began to help himself to a bowl of cereal. The house was quiet; Aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron, Rose and Hugo were staying, but most people were still asleep. There were already garlands hung around the room, and a collection of Christmas cards on the dresser.

"Morning," he said.

The only other person in the kitchen merely grunted in reply and turned the page of what he was reading.

"So," Albus said, as he sat down table. "You've been weirdly calm about the latest thing with Lily. What's going on?"

His brother, who was sitting at the other side of the table drinking a cup of tea and flipping through a broom catalogue, looked up and scowled at him.

"Look, I don't even care. Lily can do what she wants. Anyway, why should it be weird that I'm calm about it?"

Al raised his eyebrows and said nothing.

"Well, okay," James added. "I tried talking to her, and it was pretty obvious she was dying for me to go off the deep end about it. So I didn't."

Al laughed. "Seriously? You're pretending to be okay about it specifically to _annoy_ her?"

"Well, partly." James grinned reluctantly. "I think it's working. She can't understand why I'm not reacting. But also, Hugo says they're not actually going out, and that he doesn't think they're going to. I'm not sure how he knows, but he seemed pretty sure."

Albus eyed his brother suspiciously. He could believe that James would enjoy winding Lily up as much as Lily might enjoy the reverse. But this was such a sudden and complete change of heart that he couldn't help feeling there was something else behind it.

"Anyway," James went on, "what's all this I hear about you and Sapphie?"

Al's suspicion turned to wariness. James was not the person he wanted to discuss Sapphie with. He was _not_ still hung up on what had happened between them, he insisted to himself. But at the same time… Well, he knew that Sapphie was not interested in James. She'd told him that, and he trusted her. But he had no idea how James felt about Sapphie.

"I don't know," he said. "What _have_ you heard about me and Sapphie?"

"Everything Hugo could tell me. Apparently you put on quite a show on the dance floor."

"Oh, Merlin," Al said with a sigh. "I'm pretty sure Hugo's exaggerating, as usual. Either that or you are, which also wouldn't be much of a surprise."

"But seriously." The grin that had appeared on James's face disappeared and he frowned slightly. "Are you two giving it another go then?"

"Well, kind of. I mean, yeah we are, but we're taking it slowly, and we're not making too much of a big deal out of it. So you don't have to mention it to Mum or Dad or anyone."

Albus watched James's face carefully as he spoke. And the expression on it was unmistakable: Immense, delighted relief.

"Really? That's great! I mean, honestly. I'm really happy for you guys. Wow," James went on thoughtfully. "I kind of never thought you would. But I'm glad you are. Because, y'know, I'm really sorry about what happened there. I fucked up. In multiple ways."

"Well, yeah, you did," Al agreed. Relief was overtaking him too. There was no way James could lie that convincingly. "So did I, though," he went on. "So yeah, you're forgiven. Just about. But never mind me and Sapphie," he went on. "What the hell's going on with you and that girl? What's her name? Hazel?"

James's grin disappeared and he looked extremely uncomfortable. "Nothing," he muttered.

Albus waited. "That's it?" he said at last. "You literally wrote to me asking me to go and talk to Scorpius Malfoy and 'subtly' try to find out if he knew why his friend didn't want to see you. That's a lot of effort and a lot of pride-swallowing, Jamie, and neither of those are things you usually go in for when you're chasing a girl. And you're not even going to tell me what happened?"

"Well maybe I would if you'd actually agreed to help me," James retorted. "Anyway, I'm not _chasing_ her, and it's no big deal. I met up with her a few times in the summer. You already know that. And then she kind of freaked out on me, and I have no idea why. I mean, I thought we were getting along pretty well, but out of the blue she rushes off and tells me she doesn't want to see me anymore, and she doesn't think it's a good idea if I write to her…"

"And did you write to her?" Albus interrupted.

"No, of course not." James turned another page of his catalogue, although Al didn't think he was actually reading it anymore. "She said she didn't want me to, so I haven't had any contact with her since. And if she doesn't want to see me, that's up to her, obviously. I just want to know what I did wrong, because I've been over and over it in my head until I feel like I'm going crazy, and I still can't work it out."

Again, Albus felt a small pang of guilt that he hadn't tried to help James. His brother was trying for his usual flippant tone, but it had cracked anxiously on the last sentence. He might say it wasn't a big deal, but it was clearly a large-ish one. Which was interesting, because it wasn't normal for James. It did possibly explain, though, why James wasn't completely overreacting to the news that Lily had gone with Malfoy to the ball. That wouldn't be the best way to make a good impression on Malfoy's best friend.

Not that Al thought he could have done any good by talking to Scorpius Malfoy. That seemed like a very bad plan, even by James's standards. Lily would be a better person than him to talk to Malfoy, but Al certainly wasn't going to suggest roping her in. He felt sorry for James, but interference from the rest of the family was the last thing the situation needed, even if James had been prepared to tell Lily about it, which Al doubted. Lily was notoriously terrible at keeping secrets.

"I'm sorry it didn't work out," he said genuinely. "And I'm sorry I couldn't do anything. But let's face it, I wouldn't have done you any favours by going up to Scorpius Malfoy and saying 'hey, my brother fancies your friend; can you find out if she likes him too?' I mean, that's how first-years do romance, Jamie."

"Well, obviously that's not what I meant you to do," James said irritably.

He broke off as the door opened and Hugo stumbled in, still in his pyjamas, his hair sticking in every direction. However, he looked between the two of them, his expression rapidly becoming more awake.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Nothing," James said at once. "Mind your own business."

Hugo looked even more interested. "_Do_ you fancy Malfoy's friend, Jamie?"

Albus choked with laughter over a spoonful of cereal, and James groaned.

"Thanks a lot for saying that out loud, Al. It's not actually like that, Hugo, so just shut up about it."

Hugo narrowed his eyes. "Which friend? You're into girls, so that means it has to be Zabini. Malfoy doesn't hang out with any other girls. Other than Lily," he added, "but it's obviously not her."

"It's not Zabini," James said through gritted teeth. "It's not anyone. Albus was being a twat."

"Oh, come on." Hugo sat down beside Albus, opposite James. "At least tell me who you were talking about. I was the one who told you what the deal was with Lily and Malfoy – _and _about Al and Sapphie."

"It's nobody even at Hogwarts," Albus put in. "We were talking about that Muggle friend of Malfoy's."

"Who I don't fancy, and am probably never going to see again," James added. "Why are we even having this conversation? It's nothing to do with either of you."

Hugo's eyes, however, had lit up.

"That Muggle girl who saved you when you almost died in the avalanche?" he asked. "What was her name again? Hey, if you want to see her, I could ask Malfoy how you could get in touch with her? I'll pretend I'm asking for someone else if you don't want me to say it's you," he added.

"_No._ I already know how to get in touch with her!" James said, exasperated. "That's not the issue, Hugo. Just forget it, okay? Don't you dare say anything to Malfoy. I know what your idea of subtle is."

Hugo opened his mouth, presumably to argue, then caught Al's eye and closed it again.

Albus very much hoped that Hugo was thinking of his disastrous attempts to interfere in people's lives over the previous term, and would come to the conclusion that it was better to leave well alone. From the gleam in Hugo's eye, he was not at all sure that that was the case, and although he couldn't help being amused that it was James's life being interfered with for a change, he also felt a growing sense of dismay.

His hopes for a drama-free time the following term seemed slightly over-optimistic.

_The End_

**A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who's read, favourited and/or reviewed this story! If you've read this far and haven't left a review, please do drop me a line or two and let me know what you think - reviews really make a writer's day!**

**Please also check out my other fics if you haven't already done so - they're all set in the same universe and feature the same characters. And there's more to come, so if you're dying to know how Al/Sapphie works out, whether James ever sees Hazel again or what happens to Issie and Eris, then watch out for my next two planned stories, _Your World_ and _Inheritance_. (You might want to read some of the others first though, if you haven't already.)**


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